From Centre to Periphery... and Back? The Contribution of the Latvian Soviet Ethnographers to the Journal “Sovetskaya Etnografiya”

Abstract

The occupation and colonial policy of the USSR resulted in a structural and substantive alteration of Latvia’s scientific scene. The professional connection between Latvian Soviet ethnographers and the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which supervised Soviet ethnography, demonstrated a pronounced centre-periphery dynamic (directives, co­or­dination of plans and reports, criticism). The article focuses on Latvian Soviet ethnographers’ publications in the principal scientific journal of Soviet ethno­graphy, “Sovetskaya Etnografiya”, issued by the supervising institution, highlighting their significance and contribution to the development of Soviet ethnography.