Tensions and Intensions in Post-War Public Health in EuropeConference at the Brocher Foundation, Hermance, Switzerland

1 November 2023

Photo: Wikimedia, Creative Commons CC0 1.0

Hosted at the Brocher Foundation, Hermance, Switzerland, between the 17th and 19th October, 2023, this conference, organised by Professor Ulf Schmidt, Professor Judit Sándor, Professor Volker Hess, and Professor Anelia Kassabova provided an opportunity for the Leviathan teams in Hamburg, Sofia, Berlin, and Budapest/Vienna, to not only meet and present the current state of their research for the project, but also explore possible synergies and joint work projects.

Papers were presented on the topics of ‘Transnational testing grounds. Medical abortion in the GDR, 1970-1990’ (Hottenrott, Berlin), ‘Mapping the postwar legacies of eugenics in socialist countries: A conceptual history of eugenics in Hungary’ (Kakuk, Budapest/Vienna), ‘Soviet psychiatry and psychoanalysis during the Cold War: debates and dissident narratives in Eastern Europe’ (Pires, Sofia), and ‘Dissenting Doctors’ (Studdert, Hamburg). This was followed by thematic sessions, demonstrating the research overlap and shared interests between the teams within the Leviathan Project areas of Body, Reproduction, Risk, Utopia. Professor Anelia Kasabova and Dr Kate Docking presented collaborative work focused on reproduction, whilst Dr Mila Maeva explored the topic of ‘Bulgarian Medical Brigades in North Korea and Socialist Solidarity’. This was followed by a presentation focused on ‘the weaving of traditional healing landscapes into modern healthcare geographies: balneology and the conquering of the vernacular body in mid-20th century Bulgaria’ by a representative of the Sofia team, Slava Savova. The session concluded with a discuss led by Professor Volker Hess focussed on risk management and clinical research.

The final sessions, entitled ‘The changing role of patients’ explored patient’s rights in socialist health care in Central Europe (Varju, Budapest/Vienna), psychopharmaceutical enhancement trials across post war Europe (Peace, Hamburg), the figure of the patient in post-war Europe, and finally a paper focussed on Dialysis patients in the GDR (Geisthövel, Berlin).

This conference not only provided a platform for the teams to present their research but also fostered an environment of collaboration, encouraging the exchange of ideas and the exploration of potential joint research projects that leverage the diverse expertise of each team.