Improving Social Science in the Former Soviet Union The U.S. Role (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Improving Social Science in the Former Soviet Union: The U.S. Role
Improving Social Science in the Former Soviet Union: The U.S. Role
Pages 1-8
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From page 1... ...
We consider that the best way to assist this development is to adopt a pluralistic approach that works with diverse private and public institutions in the post-Soviet states that are striving to improve research and education in the social and behavioral sciences. Developing Enduring Democracy If there is to be a successful, long-term transition from the Soviet system to some form of democracy, strong communities of independent social analysts must emerge in the post-Soviet states.
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From page 2... ...
Free inquiry, and especially high-quality social science analysis of data, is a critical antidote to government falsification, misinformation, and any attempts to reassert an ideological monopoly. It is in the interests of the United States and other free countries to promote pluralist social analysis in the formerly Soviet countries to assist efforts to resist any possible reimposition of monolithic state structures.
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From page 3... ...
As was recently demonstrated in China, the dispersion of computers, facsimile transmission machines, and advanced communications technology can also provide the international scientific community with the information necessary to assist local colleagues in periods of government repression. Scientific human resources in the former Soviet Union are threatened by both internal and external "brain drains." The loss of their salaries is driving social and behavioral scientists to find alternative employment, either in other fields at home or outside the country.
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From page 4... ...
WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED The social and behavioral sciences in the former Soviet Union require assistance to overcome the legacy of seven decades of ideological distortion and to survive the current socioeconomic transformation. Throughout the Soviet period, scientific inquiry was effectively suppressed or seriously skewed in all but a few subfields of the social and behavioral sciences.
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From page 5... ...
Efforts from outside may fail because forces within the countries derail democratization entirely or return control of social science to familiar patronage systems. We believe, however, that the risks of a modest investment are well worth taking because if democratization survives in the short term, stronger social science can contribute powerfully to its long-term continuation.
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From page 6... ...
A major effort should be undertaken immediately to provide access to international electronic communications for all major social science and humanities research centers, universities, and libraries in the former Soviet Union. This would provide access for local researchers to international research resources, make possible open communication between researchers and students in the former Soviet Union without dependence on central gate-keeping institutions, improve integration of local researchers into the international community, increase independent publication possibilities, and provide access to computerassisted learning programs throughout the region.
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From page 7... ...
Establish a flexible program to support short workshops and institutes of up to onemonth duration. Following the "Salzburg Institute" model, the program should support a variety of short-term, intensive activities that provide training in methods, help develop fields of applied social science (for example, clinical psychology, social work, urban planning)
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From page 8... ...
Existing programs that focus mainly on the natural sciences may be usefully expanded to include social and behavioral science or used as models for parallel programs in the social sciences. For example, the National Science Foundation's efforts to support collaborative research in the former Soviet Union and to provide computers to American grantees' collaborators there have so far included only a few social science projects.
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