Timo Vilén
Studying (and not studying) one’s neighbour: Sovietology in Cold War Finland
Issue: Issue No. 20 (2013)
Language: English
Subject(s): History
Page Range: 73-87
No. of Pages: 15
Keywords: Cold War, Finnish Slavistics, social science, Sovietology
Summary/Abstract: While historian generally agree that Sovietology was far more than just “knowing your enemy”, a profound understanding of the highly complex nature of the field has been impeded by the lack of a comparative perspective and the absence of what could be called peripheral countries from the grand narrative of Soviet Studies. This essay shifts the emphasis away from American and West German perspectives and turns, instead, to the institutional development of Soviet Studies in Finland. Beginning from the pre-Cold War history of the Finnish Slavistics, the essay provides a lens through which to reflect upon a number of key issues related to the current debate on Cold War social science (in general) and Soviet Studies (in particular).
Open access on CEEOL: NO
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