LEIPZIG WORKSHOP: SPACES OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SOCIALIST CAMP AND GLOBAL SOUTH IN THE COLD WAR ERA
A workshop "Spaces of Interaction between the Socialist Camp and the Global South - Knowledge Production, Trade and scientific-Technical Cooperation in the Cold War Era" was held in Leipzig University Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1199 on 26-27 October 2017. Tens of scholars from Europe (mainly from former socialist countries), countries of Africa and Asia and the USA participated. Acting and former members of international organizations also took part. The scientific meeting sought to overcome the well-known, nevertheless oversimplifying model of the Global Cold War in which the Socialist Bloc was presented as an autarkic and isolated group of countries and the Global South was displayed as the passive victim of a Western-led globalization. Contributing to the recent debates that are challenging this rather outdated model, the workshop tried to highlight the significance of the various relations between the Socialist Bloc and the developing countries. COMECON countries and Non-aligned movement impact on decolonization and efforts to create a new, more just world economic order were particularly discussed. Most reports noted a gradual shift from ideological indoctrination towards a more pragmatic approach to foreign economic policies of socialist countries.