Expertise and the quest for rural modernization in the Russian empire and the Soviet Union

The project of modernity is generally associated with industrial and urban contexts. Yet the belief that the world can be transformed through knowledge, technology and reason has left clear marks beyond the classic laboratories of modernity. In rural regions, it manifested itself in the implementation of ambitious agricultural programs and gigantic infrastructure projects. Such endeavors brought about both adventure and risk, promising unseen triumphs and foreshadowing ecological disasters an...