“Our Party Is Science”: On the Causes and Consequences of the Party's Interference in Agricultural Science in the Soviet Union

Through the prism of the historical and anthropological approach, which presupposes the important role of ideological and worldview factors in the life of society, the article examines the reasons for party interference in agricultural scientific knowledge and analyzes its consequences. Initially, this interference was caused by the ideas existing in society about the relationship between biological and social processes, which led to the party structures' support of scientists who defended the decisive influence of the external environment on the formation of heredity of crops and animals. These ideas were considered as an additional justification for the possibility of social transformation on socialist grounds, provided that the social basis changes and the individualistic psychology in people's minds is overcome. However, the precedent of “ideological” interference in agricultural science served as the basis for further steps in this direction and on problems that did not have a political and ideological “sound”. Party interference in the field of agricultural scientific knowledge manifested itself in the authorization of certain developments, in the initiation of “projects” that subsequently received “scientific” substantiation, in the bureaucratization of the implementation of the most important scientific and production programs, as happened with the program for the development of virgin and fallow lands. At the same time, the ideological factor gradually lost its significance, and a utilitarian approach was established in the party's attitude to agricultural science, the essence of which was as follows: the party will support the one who “promises” more. As a result of party interference in scientific knowledge, a stereotype of the behavior of scientists “dependent” on decisions “from above” was formed, which affected not only the agrarian science, but also other natural sciences. At the same time, an anti-scientific psychology was formed among production workers, who were forced not so much to follow scientific recommendations as to evade their implementation. As a result, the possibilities of scientific and technological progress were limited, production indicators in the agricultural sector worsened. Overcoming the mistakes made since the mid-1960s opened up opportunities for accelerating the integration of agricultural science and production. In the USSR, there appeared specific “oases” of agrarian well-being, with quite “harmonious” relations between agricultural science and production. However, the negative scenario of the country's development did not allow the positive trends that had been identified to be fully realized.