Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities at Utrecht University

Kateřina gave a talk titled “Uncovering medical histories from the socialist East.  The case of medical sexology in Czechoslovakia,” arguing that researching the history of medicine during the 20th century in Europe has been a predominantly Western phenomenon. Only recently has some attention begun to be devoted to Eastern Europe. The results have upended many preconceived notions, such as the assumption that medical expertise East of the Iron Curtain was enslaved to the dictate from Moscow or a local Party politburo, or the belief that medical and other experts were cut off from international exchanges, or the overall impression that nothing interesting could have been happening under communist dictatorship.