Clustering Thoughts — Digital Analysis of Studies in Soviet Thought / Studies in East European Thought (1961–2020): The Transformation of the Expert Perspective

Studies in Soviet Thought (1961–1992) was founded during the Cold War as a platform for scholars of Soviet philosophy. After the collapse of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact, the journal continued to appear under the title Studies in East European Thought. This poster analyses the transformation of the expert perspective on historical and contemporary philosophical processes in the region across sixty years of the journal’s existence (1961–2020). Using digital methods, we study shifts in the topical focus of articles, and the dynamics of research priorities. Particular attention is paid to the perestroika and post-Soviet periods. Did Western scholars converge with authors affiliated to East European institutions? How did the distribution of analytical attention change between the newly independent states of the former USSR and other East European countries? What shifts in the journal’s topical profile occurred after 1991? Relying on formal (computational) analysis, we aim to reveal long-term trends in the expert discourse (especially for 2000–2020), critically reflect on these developments, and identify possible “blind spots” in the journal’s research optics.