BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"\;Miracles"\; on a Geographical Map': Geodetic Utopias an d Cartographic Realism in the Soviet Union\, 1920-1938 - Dr Nick Baron (Sc hool of History\, University of Nottingham) DTSTART:20061116T161500Z DTEND:20061116T173000Z UID:TALK5674@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:4225 DESCRIPTION:After 1917\, the new Soviet leadership attributed an unprecede nted importance to space as a factor which could make or break the new pos t-revolutionary state\, and correspondingly to the role of spatial knowled ge\, planning and representation in the project of constructing socialism within Russia and\, ultimately\, across the borderless expanse of a single global polity. Firstly\, the Bolshevik regime understood the power of car tography to affirm and propagate the 'world-view' and corresponding spatia l visions in which it grounded its claims to legitimacy. Maps were to serv e propaganda purposes: Walter Benjamin visiting Moscow in the winter of 19 26 remarked that "the map is almost as close to becoming the centre of the new Russian iconic cult as Lenin's portrait". Secondly\, the party and go vernment leaderships recognized the crucial role that accurate spatial dat a played in the practical tasks of state-building and economic development . Maps were also to serve utilitarian purposes. As a consequence of its du al function\, Soviet cartography bifurcated into two spheres: one concerne d with spatial 'myth-making'\, the other with constructing a 'scientific' account of space. This paper explores the tensions which this duality prod uced within Soviet cartographic policy-making and practice during the 1920 s and 1930s\, and its fatal consequences for the civilian cartographic est ablishment during the 1937-38 'Great Terror'. LOCATION:Seminar Room\, Department of Geography\, Downing Site END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR