The Cultural and Political Imaginary of Cybernetic Socialism

Abstract

In recent years, we have seen a surge in research on Soviet cybernetics. Drawing on some earlier studies and Slava Gerovitch’s seminal From Newspeak to Cyberspeak, researchers have substantiated the role of cybernetics as a key element in late Soviet epistemology.1 During the Thaw, cybernetics became an “intellectual, technical, and institutional resource for innovation and change” and one of the cornerstones of socialist governance.2 Through the computerization of economic planning and the production process, the government hoped to enhance the quality of decision making in various fields. In architecture, cybernetic modeling became one means for planning and designing the new Soviet city.3 In the humanities, cybernetics was a vital component for establishing the “Soviet Empire of Signs” and for the introduction of statistical methods in linguistics, art, and historiography.4 In environmental studies, cybernetic methods were