Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences

Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences

In post-1917 Russia, state policies addressing “the woman question” and “the sexual question” were intended to be informed by the social sciences. These matters were declared resolved during the Stalin era, but partially reopened during the Thaw. This article explores how, in the long term, the supp...

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Détails bibliographiques
Dans:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh,
Auteur principal: Claro, Mona
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Langue:Anglais
Publié: Clio 2022
Sujets:
gender
sexuality
Soviet Union
communism
social science
public policies
Union soviétique
genre
communisme
sexualité
sciences sociales
politiques publiques
Accès en ligne:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:cliowgh_873
record_format openedition
spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:cliowgh_873 https://doi.org/10.4000/cliowgh.873 urn:doi:10.4000/cliowgh.873 en https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh/873 2022-10-11T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/e3tc All rights reserved Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences Clio Belin info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2554-3822 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh Claro, Mona gender sexuality Soviet Union communism social science public policies Union soviétique genre communisme sexualité sciences sociales politiques publiques In post-1917 Russia, state policies addressing “the woman question” and “the sexual question” were intended to be informed by the social sciences. These matters were declared resolved during the Stalin era, but partially reopened during the Thaw. This article explores how, in the long term, the supposedly “socialist” social sciences differed from “bourgeois” sciences not so much in their epistemology, as in the way they prioritized or excluded certain problematics as the political regime evolved. In the 1920s, Russian research on sexuality and birth control was groundbreaking, but it became relatively illegitimate after the Thaw. Between 1960 and 1980, the chief social issues were rather fertility decline and women’s “double burden” of work and home. Central planning seemed ill-adapted to family behaviour, and social science found itself facing the prospect of a governing approach closer to economic liberalism. This period witnessed the emergence of a division still relevant today, between two conceptualizations of social change: one in terms of modernization, both demographic and sexual – to be encouraged – the other in terms of a “crisis” – to be dealt with. En Russie, après 1917, « la question des femmes » et la « la question sexuelle » ont fait l’objet de politiques publiques qui se voulaient éclairées par les sciences sociales. Après avoir été décrétées résolues sous Staline, ces questions ont pu être partiellement réouvertes avec le Dégel. Cet article explique comment, sur le temps long, ces sciences sociales supposées « socialistes » se sont distinguées des sciences « bourgeoises » moins par leur épistémologie que par la priorisation ou l’exclusion de certaines problématiques, au gré des évolutions politiques du régime. Ainsi, les recherches sur la sexualité et le contrôle des naissances, avant-gardistes dans les années 1920, sont devenues relativement illégitimes après le dégel. Dans les années 1960-1980, c’était surtout la baisse de la natalité et le « double fardeau » – domestique et professionnel – des femmes qui faisaient problème. Les comportements familiaux semblaient étrangers à la logique de la planification, et les sciences sociales étaient travaillées par la perspective d’un art de gouverner d’orientation plus libérale. Il s’est alors formé un clivage qui est toujours d’actualité, entre une conceptualisation du changement social en termes de « modernisation » – démographique, sexuelle... – à accompagner, ou de « crise » à enrayer.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic gender
sexuality
Soviet Union
communism
social science
public policies
Union soviétique
genre
communisme
sexualité
sciences sociales
politiques publiques
spellingShingle gender
sexuality
Soviet Union
communism
social science
public policies
Union soviétique
genre
communisme
sexualité
sciences sociales
politiques publiques
Claro, Mona
Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
description In post-1917 Russia, state policies addressing “the woman question” and “the sexual question” were intended to be informed by the social sciences. These matters were declared resolved during the Stalin era, but partially reopened during the Thaw. This article explores how, in the long term, the supposedly “socialist” social sciences differed from “bourgeois” sciences not so much in their epistemology, as in the way they prioritized or excluded certain problematics as the political regime evolved. In the 1920s, Russian research on sexuality and birth control was groundbreaking, but it became relatively illegitimate after the Thaw. Between 1960 and 1980, the chief social issues were rather fertility decline and women’s “double burden” of work and home. Central planning seemed ill-adapted to family behaviour, and social science found itself facing the prospect of a governing approach closer to economic liberalism. This period witnessed the emergence of a division still relevant today, between two conceptualizations of social change: one in terms of modernization, both demographic and sexual – to be encouraged – the other in terms of a “crisis” – to be dealt with.
author Claro, Mona
author_facet Claro, Mona
author_sort Claro, Mona
title Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
title_short Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
title_full Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
title_fullStr Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
title_full_unstemmed Interpreting the world or changing it? The “woman question” and the “sexual question” in Soviet social sciences
title_sort interpreting the world or changing it? the “woman question” and the “sexual question” in soviet social sciences
publisher Clio
publishDate 2022
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/cliowgh.873
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cliowgh/873
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