Light and Shadow: An Analysis of the Prevalence of Blindness in the USSR Based on the All-Union Census of 1926.

The analysis of the prevalence of blindness in the USSR based on the data from the All-Union Census of 1926 represents a fundamental interdisciplinary research study grounded in a critical analysis of the statistical data from the 1926 population census. The research focuses not only on the quantitative assessment of the level of visual impairments in early Soviet society but also on a complex of sociocultural, gender, and territorial factors that influenced this indicator. The study aims to identify spatial asymmetry in the prevalence of the pathology, gender disproportions among individuals with visual impairments, as well as to establish a connection between the issue of blindness and socio-economic conditions, such as poverty, unsatisfactory sanitary-hygienic conditions, and a lack of medical infrastructure. The research emphasizes the interpretation of the census data as a reflection of an acute social problem that posed a challenge to the emerging Soviet social security system. The main research task is to metricize the level of visual impairments in early Soviet society as well as to expound on the complex of sociocultural, gender, and territorial determinants that shaped this indicator. The methodological apparatus of the study includes comparative statistical modeling, historical demographic methods, and geographic information systems (GIS) for spatial visualization and mapping of data. The results obtained demonstrate a pronounced spatial asymmetry in the prevalence of blindness, with the maximum concentration of the pathology in peripheral and national administrative-territorial units (in particular, in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). A persistent gender disproportion has been established, characterized by a systematic predominance of women among individuals with visual impairments. This phenomenon is interpreted through the lens of a combination of biological factors (increased life expectancy), social constraints (limited access to medical services and education), and specific professional employment contexts. The analysis shows that the issue of blindness in the USSR during its initial phase was distinctly socioeconomic in nature, being a direct consequence of poverty, unsatisfactory sanitary-hygienic conditions, and a lack of medical infrastructure. The article emphasizes that the 1926 census recorded an acute social problem, which became a critical challenge for the emerging Soviet paradigm of social security, and it offers an assessment of the initial steps taken by the state in the rehabilitation and support of citizens with visual impairments.