Workshop - Protect and control

Although less spectacular than terror and repression, the Soviet state's efforts to protect the population against uncertainty and danger also played a decisive role in redefining the relationship between state and society. Considering an unforeseen event or danger as a social problem, taking protective measures, defining the conditions for compensating victims and anticipating the future: this is how we characterize the "politics of uncertainty and danger". This workshop aims to clarify the paradox whereby the regime was attacked by the Soviets on the grounds of its inability to protect them, even as it had reaffirmed its protective character by implementing security measures.