Chernobyl Stories and Anthropological Shock in Hungary

Title:Chernobyl Stories and Anthropological Shock in Hungary

Author: Harper, Krista M.

Reference: Anthropological Quarterly. Jul2001, Vol. 74 Issue 3, p114-123. 10p.

Keywords: Chernobyl disaster, Anthropological Shock, Hungary

Abstract: The Budapest Chernobyl Day commemoration generated a creative outpouring of stories about parental responsibilities, scientific knowledge, environmental risks, and public participation. ! examine the stories and performances elicited by the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1996. In these “Chernobyl stories” activists criticized scientific and state paternalism while engaging in alternative practices of citizenship. The decade between the catastrophic explosion and its commemoration coincides with the development of the Hungarian environmental movement and the transformation from state socialism Chernobyl Day 1996 consequently became an opportunity for activists to reflect upon how the meaning of citizenship and public participation had changed in those years as well.

URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/anthropological_quarterly/toc/anq74.3.html