Andy Byford, "Science of the Child in Late Imperial and Early Soviet Russia" (Oxford UP, 2020)

The emergence of the child as a critical object of scientific knowledge in late Imperial and early Soviet Russia reflects a broader transnational movement to mobilize expertise for societal management. Professor of Russian Studies Andy Byford examines how professional intelligentsia and emerging welfare states utilized *vospitanie* (upbringing) to transform society, positioning children at the center of national progress and eugenic ambitions. This scientific mobilization evolved from amorphous, interdisciplinary studies into "pedology," a state-sanctioned framework that integrated medicine, psychology, and education to regulate development. While initially thriving as a tool for managing mass trauma and social upheaval following the revolution, pedology faced political scrutiny and eventual suppression in the 1930s as the Stalinist regime enforced ideological conformity. Byford’s analysis challenges the simplistic narrative of pedology as merely a repressed science, revealing its complex role in state-building and social engineering.