International Conference "Leaders in Soviet History. How to Write Political Biographies"
The conference will be jointly orginized by the International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences and the German Historical Institute in Moscow. The conference will convene on March 20-21, at Myasnitskaya street, 20, room 311.
German Historical Institute, Moscow
International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences,
National Research University – Higher School of Economics
Leaders in Soviet History. How to Write Political Biographies
International Conference
20–21 March 2015
Political biographies are a genre of historical literature that traditionally attracts considerable interest from a wide range of readers. As such, they have significant influence on the professional study of history while providing important methods for scholarly research. Political biographies make it possible, for example, to assess the impact that the personal factor has on decision-making processes and the implementation of policies on different levels. They also allow to study the effects of informal structures and practices. The conference seeks to examine these general methodological and historiographical issues. The organizers do not aim to cover the biographies of all Soviet leaders in an equally detailed way. Rather, individual biographical studies and research projects serve as a basis for the discussion of two interrelated problems: how to write a scholarly political biography, and how can this historiographical trend be methodologically approached?
The conference will convene on March 20-21, at Myasnitskaya street, 20, room 311.
Working languages are English and Russian (simultaneous translation will be provided).
We kindly ask our guests to order a pass to the building by sending request to the E-mail address worldwar2@hse.ru not later than 12:00 p.m. on Thursday March 19, 2015.
HSE students, faculty and staff should present their IDs to enter the building.
Conference program
20 March
10.00-10.30
Welcoming Remarks
10.30 – 13.30
Part I: Political Biographies. Approaches, Aims, Sources
10.30 – 11.45
Stephen Kotkin (Princeton University, United States)
The Political Landscape and Agency/Non-Agency. The Individual in History
Sergei Kudriashov (German Historical Institute, Moscow)
Soviet Leaders. New Sources, New Interpretations
11.45 – 12.15 – Coffee Break
12.15-13.30
Oleg Budnitskii (Higher School of Economics)
Russian Emigrants and the First Attempts at Creating “Portraits” of Soviet Leaders
Oleg Khlevnyuk (Higher School of Economics)
Political Biographies in Contemporary Russia. Apologetics, Fabrications, and Scholarship
13.30 - 15.00 - Lunch
15.00 – 18.00
Part II: The Personalization of Politics. Leaders and Decisions
15.00 – 16.15
Vladimir Pechatnov (MGIMO)
Leadership in Geopolitics. The “Grand Alliance/Big Three”
Michael Carly (University of Montreal, Canada)
Soviet Leaders and the Outside World.The Interwar Years
16.15-16.45– Coffee Break
16.45-18.00
John Barber (Cambridge University, Great Britain)
Mikhail Gorbachev. Conceptualizing New Ways of Thinking
Marc Elie (CNRC, CERCEC, France)
The Conquest of Nature. How Environmental Questions Were Posed and Resolved in the Soviet Union
21 March
10.00 – 13.00
Part III: Leonid Brezhnev. New Sources and Their Interpretation
10.00 – 11.15
Stephan Merl (Bielefeld University, Germany)
Brezhnev. Methods of Political Communication
Andrei Savin (Institute of History, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
Linguistic Specifics of Brezhnev’s Notes: Key to Understanding the Subjectivity of the General Secretary?
11.15 – 11.45 – Coffee Break
11.45 – 13.00
Viktor Dönninghaus (Nordost-Institut, Germany)
“A Secret Wrapped in a Mystery…” Brezhnev’s Health as a Political Factor
Tomas Sniegon (Lund University, Sweden)
Vladimir Semichastnyi. A Historical Narrative of the Former KGB Boss
13.00 – 14.30 - Lunch
14.30 – 15.45
Part IV: Portraits. Studying Soviet Biographies
Vladimir Shishkin (Institute of History, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
I.N. Smirnov and R.I. Eikhe: Political Portraits of Siberia’s Party-State Leaders, 1920s-1930s
Gennadii Kostyrchenko (Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences)
N.S. Khrushchev. A Study in Black-and-White Politics.
15.45 – 16.15 – Coffee Break
16.45 – 18.00
Concluding Round Table
Chair: Nikolaus Katzer (German Historical Institute, Moscow)