Body: By focusing on the development of high-tech medicine, we show that the trans-European network of transplantation was driven by scientific constraints and civil society. A study on balneosanatoria investigates the development of medical facilities, infrastructure and technology. In addition to studying the ‘Semashko’ medical model and medical migration, we explored key political figures and cooperation within international organizations and among experts to highlight cooperation across the systemic divide. We analysed normative aspects of biopolitics and studied transnational collaboration of population geneticists via organisations in Europe. Another example looks at the development of policies regarding homes for children with disabilities. We studied public debates on biosocial concepts in a transnational context and how these were implemented. We also explored health laws in different states - both socialist and capitalist - to uncover the connections between law and socio-economic realities.
Research has also explored post-war developments in human genetics and population policies in Europe, including historical studies of eugenics, psychiatric epidemiology, and the history of institutions for children and youth. Comparative studies are addressing end-of-life decisions, international perspectives on death and dying, and bioethical issues such as the commodification of the human body and societal ideals influencing surgical bodily enhancements. Investigations are also being undertaken into the migration of medical professionals during the socialist era, the development of medical infrastructure, and the evolution of medical ethics and bioethics.
Reproduction: We engage with R&D, marketing and distribution, and the (mis)use of drugs in the field, for example via a study of the clinical trials of the abortion pill Mifepristone and the debates on women’s reproductive rights. By analysing the R&D of (sex) hormones, we show how socialist states participated in and benefited from medical advances. These studies show the close connections of drug research and the use of new substances in both permissible (contraception) and non-permissible contexts (abortion, doping) across the systemic divide. We also address the normative perspective of social inequities, exclusion and discrimination by comparing abortion and reproductive rights across various states. Another aspect looks at research about the social inequalities via a study of the history of Bulgarian gerontology. A comparative case study on aging focusses on care homes and home care in Albania and Italy. Comparing discussions of end-of-life decisions across Europe, for example in the Dutch context, assists in outlining the key concepts and dimensions of the “autonomy” debate.
Work within this work package has also continued to examine reproductive policies in post-war Europe, including family planning, contraception, and the medicalisation of the female body. Studies highlight changing abortion laws, pro-natalist policies, and the institutionalisation of elderly care. Research has been extended to reproductive rights, gerontology, and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including UN/WHO initiatives addressing endemic syphilis. The history of contraception in Yugoslavia and genetic counselling in Hungary are also being explored.
Risk: We demonstrate how the legacy of the Holocaust made the medical profession more reflective about issues related to medical ethics within European societies. We can also show the extent to which codified medical deontology — rather than the Nuremberg Code — served as a central reference point within different national and cultural contexts. A key area of analysis is shaped by the post-war legacy of eugenics. We trace debates about disability and definitions of work capacity in both Eastern and Western European countries. In doing so, we can better understand how post-war welfare and health policies were shaped by medically-based productivism. The example of the prevention and control of poliomyelitis shows the consequences of certain health policies. The politics of risk are also analysed via the development of European ethno-psychiatry in the context of global mental health policy. This case study examines cross-cultural projects focused on mental disorders undertaken by the World Health Organisation to analyse the dialogue between psychiatrists from different states across western, central and eastern Europe and beyond.
The study of risk reasoning in healthcare policies under capitalist and socialist regimes has been a central theme. Studies undertaken by Leviathan teams are examining risk communication, particularly for tuberculosis and poliomyelitis, alongside issues like epidemiological practices, health risks in socialist workforces, and debates on disability and labour capacity. Research also covers medical ethics, focusing on malpractice, consent, surgical practices, and the history of deontology in Central and Eastern Europe. Additional work investigates cross-system collaborations in medical fields, including psychopharmaceutical experiments and anaesthetic practices. The research further explores the intersection of risk, medicine, and the management of violent behavior under state socialism. It examines how quantification, forecasting methods, and computational technology were utilized as governance strategies in state socialist care and control policies.
Utopia: The history of chemical enhancement explores the shared methodologies and beliefs among European psychopharmacists who aimed to enhance the behavioural choices, intelligence, physical performance, and moral character of trial participants. We examine the cooperation of national organizations, both at state level and within the public sphere, within the field of TB prevention. We also analyse the dissemination of healthcare propaganda to promote socialist and state-managed healthcare and a further study examines the “invisibility” of people with special needs via an exploration of visual archives in Bulgaria. This work package also considers the potential consequences of ‘utopian dreams’. Using the example of uranium mining on both sides of the Ore Mountains under Soviet occupation, we examine how such a project (more than 10,000 cancer deaths) could be carried out, and how civil society involvement was articulated in the GDR. The rise of suggestology and unorthodox research fields (e.g. psychotronics) opens another perspective on educational efforts and scientific visions in Europe and beyond.
Research undertaken by Leviathan teams continues to challenge Western-centric narratives by exploring international medical law and the right to health, especially within socialist states. Themes include pharmaceutical regulation, the political roles of medical experts, and utopian visions of health technologies like organ replacement. Studies are examining health propaganda, scientific knowledge transfer, and portrayals of psychiatric facilities and disabilities in media. Further research explores bioscientific cooperation, including efforts to prevent WMD proliferation, advancements in brain research, and the intersections of psychological disciplines across Europe.
