Radioactive Knowledge: State Control of Scientific Information in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan (Research Brief)

My research examined the social consequences of four decades of Soviet nuclear testing that left a legacy of radioactive contamination in Kazakhstan. I conducted fieldwork in a village located 5km from the official border of the nuclear test site where I examined how people confront and make sense of their health problems and environmental damage. In addition, I also conducted research at a local NGO that specializes in ecological and social issues related to radioactive pollution in Central Kazakhstan. My ethnographic approach allowed for a nuanced understanding of the multiplicity of interdependent historical, political, social, and economic forces shaped by the Soviet and post-Soviet context in Kazakhstan. 

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Magdalena Stawkowski, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, was a 2010-11 Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (IARO) fellow.