The Soviet Academy of Sciences by Alexander VucinichReview by: T. H. RigbyThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 35, No. 85 (Jun., 1957), pp. 639-640Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4204896 .

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REVIEWS 639

terror.' 'Despite the apparent crudity of their thinking, the Soviet leaders

have shown themselves to be extremely able practical sociologists. In fact, the capability of the communists in applied psychology and sociology may constitute their real "secret weapon".' By such conclusions, the author

weighs up the situation. He discards the view that Soviet imperialism is

only the continuation of traditional Russian messianism, but points out

how the Politbureau used for its purposes some of the emotional forces of

which this messianism was the outlet. He distinguishes between the

examination of the 'calculated ambiguities' of the Soviet caucus and the

attempt to gauge the effects of these manipulations on the citizens of

the USSR in their national relations to each other and to the outside world.

That the book is predominantly concerned with the former only adds to its

merit: the author weighs up what is capable of being weighed and, when

moving on to the imponderable, is yet sensitive enough to apprehend its

inherent dilemma.

Oxford Mary Holdsworth

The Soviet Academy of Sciences. By Alexander Vucinich. Stanford University Press and Cumberlege, London, 1956. 157 pages.

With its vast complex of institutes, sectors, commissions, and other

agencies, the Soviet Academy resembles less the Royal Society than an

enormous version of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton or of the Australian National University. It differs from its foreign equivalents in that it is formally a government agency, carrying out a planned pro? gramme of research which is approved by the government and integrated in the country's general economic plan, and immediately responsive to each turn in the economic or ideological policies of the communist party leadership.

Mr Vucinich offers a clear description of the structure and functioning of the Academy, the backbone of which is the hierarchy of 'scientific secretaries'. He reveals a grasp of the relationships between different classes of scholars and officials and of the situation in which the Soviet scholar finds himself. His judgments on Soviet science contain few sur?

prises, and he employs familiar cases to document them. Treatment of the social sciences as part of the ideological superstructure has limited positive achievement in this field to the accumulation and production of data. The natural sciences have not escaped manipulation for ideological ends, but have enjoyed enough autonomy to make substantial advances in a number of fields. These might have been greater if it were not for the excessive concern with planning and the overemphasis on applied science. The 'ethnocentrism' and playing-down of theoretical work which have

blighted Soviet science in the post-war era have been mitigated in the last few years.

It would have been useful to have had Mr Vucinich's views on the relations between the Academy and university, government, and other research bodies.

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64O THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

Some English readers may be uncomfortable in the presence of the

author's polysyllabic style and evident disdain for the common-sense formulation. They will nevertheless be grateful for this admirably docu? mented and conscientious study of a complex and important Soviet

institution.

London T. H. Rigby

Les partis communistes d'Europe, igig-ig55- By Branko Lazitch. Les Iles d'Or, Paris, 1956. 255 pages.

Mr Lazitch does well to contrast the contemporary importance of the communist movement with the still meagre scholarship devoted to it. If Les partis communistes d'Europe falls short of remedying this disproportion, it does provide a useful collection of information, refreshingly free from the common pretensions of telling the 'inside story' or of giving a new inter?

pretation of totalitarianism. The analytical section of the book is contained in a brief introduction.

Here, within the limits of a severely pragmatic approach, some sensible

things are said. Mr Lazitch quotes from the history of European commu? nism to disprove the view that economic hardship assists the communist

parties. He argues convincingly against the widely accepted belief that

suppression works in the interests of the communist parties. (He shows no interest in the question whether the values threatened by the communists are themselves impaired by suppressing their political activities.) Analysing the fluctuating fortunes of communist movements in Europe, he comes to the conclusion that these depend on three factors. The first is the

strength or weakness of the state. This is measured by the degree of

stability, continuity, and authority it possesses, and has nothing to do with the dictatorship-democracy dichotomy. Mr Lazitch may be guilty ol

begging the question here, as it is not clear how one is to recognise stability, etc., except in terms of the absence of communist and other

revolutionary threats. His other two factors are the party's success in

adopting united-front (as against 'sectarian') policies, and fluctuations in the international prestige and power of the USSR.

Mr Lazitch's general comments are confined to the communist parties in opposition. He offers no analysis of the transformation of these parties on

achieving power or of the role played by them in the societies they control. This introduction is followed by a sketch of the history of the inter?

national communist movement in the form of notes on each of the con?

gresses of the Comintern and meetings of the Cominform. Another short section uses quotations from Comintern congress resolutions to demonstrate the 'fundamental theses' of the communist movement. This might have been reinforced by some examples from the Cominform period.

The remaining three-quarters of the book is devoted to a series of brief histories of the various national parties with biographical notes on their

principal current leaders and figures of party membership and electoral

support. A major defect of presentation is that little attempt is made to

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