Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Health Care, the Circulation of Medical Knowledge, and Research in the Soviet Gulag in the 1930s

Health Care, the Circulation of Medical Knowledge, and Research in the Soviet Gulag in the 1930s This article aims at a historical analysis of medical culture, health care services, and medical research in the GULAG. After presenting a brief history of the GULAG medical service, the study focuses on the specific features and factors surrounding medical knowledge production, implementation, and circulation. The article also investigates medical research conducted within the GULAG, touching upon the situation in which it emerged and the ways it was carried out. It argues that due to several factors, which will be discussed in detail, the GULAG health care proved internally deficient and failed to fulfill its main task, namely the preservation of the health of the prisoners. The circulation of medical knowledge in the GULAG had unique features, which are all explained by the specific character of the semi-military regime of this penitentiary institution, veiled in secrecy, and the severe underfinancing of the medical service. Medical research, conducted in the Soviet GULAG in conditions of professional isolation, nevertheless contributed to the development of medical science in the Soviet Union, especially the diagnostics and treatment of specific diseases caused by malnutrition in extreme climatic conditions. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png East Central Europe Brill

Health Care, the Circulation of Medical Knowledge, and Research in the Soviet Gulag in the 1930s

East Central Europe , Volume 40 (3): 341 – Jan 1, 2013

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/health-care-the-circulation-of-medical-knowledge-and-research-in-the-b5hPWDen7L

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
Articles
ISSN
0094-3037
eISSN
1876-3308
DOI
10.1163/18763308-04003008
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article aims at a historical analysis of medical culture, health care services, and medical research in the GULAG. After presenting a brief history of the GULAG medical service, the study focuses on the specific features and factors surrounding medical knowledge production, implementation, and circulation. The article also investigates medical research conducted within the GULAG, touching upon the situation in which it emerged and the ways it was carried out. It argues that due to several factors, which will be discussed in detail, the GULAG health care proved internally deficient and failed to fulfill its main task, namely the preservation of the health of the prisoners. The circulation of medical knowledge in the GULAG had unique features, which are all explained by the specific character of the semi-military regime of this penitentiary institution, veiled in secrecy, and the severe underfinancing of the medical service. Medical research, conducted in the Soviet GULAG in conditions of professional isolation, nevertheless contributed to the development of medical science in the Soviet Union, especially the diagnostics and treatment of specific diseases caused by malnutrition in extreme climatic conditions.

Journal

East Central EuropeBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2013

Keywords: GULAG; Soviet forced labor camps; prisoners; health care; circulation of knowledge; medical culture; medical research

References