20.11.2025 18:00 Uhr
Presentation »Urban Life in the Age of Cybernetic Governance: Power and Control in the Socialist City«

On Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 6 p.m., Prof. Dr. Bohdan Shumylovych from the Center for Urban History at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, will speak at the Leibniz Institute for European History. Shumylovych investigates the socialist conceptualization of the ideal city, with particular attention to the roles of television, radio, and cybernetics in shaping urban governance. It examines how feedback loops, data collection, and predictive planning, which are the core principles of cybernetic thought, operated as instruments of control in state-socialist cities.
Using Lviv (Western Ukraine) as a case study, the analysis traces how cybernetic theories informed state visions of efficiency, surveillance, and social order within urban space. By situating these historical practices within contemporary discourses on smart cities and algorithmic governance, the study brings a socialist perspective to current debates on technological mediation and urban control.
Bohdan Shumylovych earned a diploma in Art History from the Lviv Academy of Arts (1993–1999) and a Master’s degree in Modern History from Central European University (2004–2005). In 2020, he received his PhD from the European University Institute and currently serves as Associate Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University. Besides teaching, he conducts research, delivers public lectures, curates thematic exhibitions, and contributes to educational programming.
The event is part of a nationwide lecture series for endangered scholars from Ukraine. The series is organized and financed by Scholars at Risk und dem Leibniz-Netzwerk Östliches Europa.
The public event will take place on November 20 at 6 p.m. in the conference room of the IEG; no registration is required.
The lecture will be held in English.