A Forgotten Page of the University Science History. Historical-Economic Studies at IFTI - INEI in the 1950s-1960s: Israel D. Brin

Abstract

The article, which was written within a project of studying the history of creation and existence of the “invisible college” of historical and economic studies at IFEI — INEI in the 1950s–1960s, reconstructs the intellectual biography of one of its participants — Israel D. Brin. The Irkutsk period of the scientist's work is characterized by his referring to historical-economic analysis: establishing a link between the problems of state capitalism and the problems of the NEP and considering the specific institutional forms that state capitalism took during the period of the NEP in the USSR in the 1920s. The works of the political economist reflected the transformation of the economic history of the NEP into a holistic and complex scientific issue. In addition to historians, political economists got involved in the solution of this problem. Their referring to the past was caused not only by historical interest, but also by urgent problems of the present. The New Economic Policy was interesting from the point of view of the implementation of its principles as well as the use of the institutional forms of state capitalism, tested during the implementation of this policy, in the practice of the people's democracies of Europe and Asia, which were in the process of transition from capitalism to socialism after the Second World War.