Climate Change in the Soviet Union and Russia
Despite the Soviet Union’s role as a Super Power during the Cold War period and Russia ́s size and geopolitical importance today, still relatively little is known about how the country’s government, scientists and people have dealt with and responded to natural/anthropogenic climate change. This interdisciplinary workshop thus aims to understand how attitudes towards climate change in the Soviet Union/Russia have evolved over time and simultaneously been shaped by various actors.
We are interested in papers notably concerning the following themes:
- How was/is climate change understood and conceptualised by Soviet/ Russian scientists?
- What international factors have been influential in shaping Soviet/ Russian attitudes?
- To what extent is climate scepticism evident in today’s Russia? And, to what extent is it related to Soviet intellectual and scientific legacies?
- How have different groups and ethnicities within Soviet and Russian society interpreted and adapted to climate change?
- What differences in the effects and consequences of climate change and in approaches to the topic can be discerned across Russia’s regions?
- How have political decision-makers at different levels dealt with the issue?
Participants will be asked to send in a 3000 words version of their paper by 5 April 2019. Presentations in Moscow should not exceed 20 minutes.
Please submit your paper proposals (200-300 words) and a short CV (100-150 words) to Benjamin Beuerle by 31st August 2018.
Limited funding to cover travel and accommodation is available. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for these funds when submitting your proposal.
The Workshop is supported by the German Historical Institute Moscow and the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (Ref: AH/P004431/1).
Inquiries can be made to the conveners via the following e-mail addresses: Benjamin Beuerle, Katja Doose and/or Jonathan Oldfield.
Call for Papers (pdf)