Luděk Brož at the seminar of the Institute Of Ethnology, 4. 3. 2024, 14:00, Prague

Luděk Brož: Evil Spirits and Rocket Debris: In Search of Lost Souls in Siberia

Abstract: The Altai Republic in southern Siberia is renowned for excavations of frozen mummies from high-altitude burial sites. Less well-known is the fact that it hosts fallout zones for the second stages of rockets launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Local inhabitants blame ‘evil spirits’ released by archaeological work and toxic fuel from rocket debris for their misfortunes. In this talk, based on a recently published book, I will explore the divergent fates of such claims when confronted with state-fostered ‘rationalisms’ of science and governance. Doing so, I will employ the concept of negative externality in an exploratory effort to treat symmetrically those claims of my interlocutors that go against my own ontological assumptions and those that comply with them.

Discussant: Dr hab. Agnieszka Halemba, prof. IAE PAN, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences

pondělí / Monday 4. 3. 2024, 14:00 CET

zasedací místnost Etnologického ústavu AV ČR / Meeting room of the IE CAS

Na Florenci 3, Praha 1

5. patro / 5th floor

ONLINE MS Teams: ZDE/HERE

Download pdf here