The Power of the Personal: Science and Society in Postsocialist Czech Republic

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorGeorges, Eugenia
dc.contributor.advisorBallestero, Andrea
dc.creatorLotterman, Charles
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-24T21:02:54Z
dc.date.created2022-12
dc.date.issued2023-04-17
dc.date.submittedDecember 2022
dc.date.updated2023-05-24T21:02:55Z
dc.description.abstractMy dissertation centers around themes of trust and truth within the context of Czech science in order to, ultimately, join literature on the relation between liberalism, individualism, and empiricism. By depicting the ways that personal experiences figure into the production of scientific facts for my interlocutors, it shows how, in contrast with the normative ideal, conceptions of scientific objectivity can be constructed from appeals to subjectivity. Importantly, I ground my findings squarely within the anthropology of science, a literature that recognizes scientists and scientific inquiry as contingently and reciprocally swept up in social currents – in this case, those of a post-socialist, nascent liberal society. In doing so, my project offers a unique vantage toward Central Europe, a region that lays complexly within multiple junctures. I rewrite the narrative of the region, drawing strange parallels between socialist-era dissidents’ hopeful appeals for “living in truth,” and contemporary illiberal populists’ angry renunciation of expertise, for example. Locating my ethnographic findings within such contexts, my dissertation argues that liberalism’s multiple and conflicting meanings, from the agreement of a social contract to the celebration of liberty and the marketplace of ideas, blasts open space for a far greater range of practices than has been traditionally appreciated.
dc.embargo.lift2023-12-01
dc.embargo.terms2023-12-01
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationLotterman, Charles. "The Power of the Personal: Science and Society in Postsocialist Czech Republic." (2023) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/114892">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/114892</a>.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/114892
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectAnthropology of science
dc.subjectanthropology of Europe
dc.titleThe Power of the Personal: Science and Society in Postsocialist Czech Republic
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropology
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
LOTTERMAN-DOCUMENT-2022.pdf
Size:
1.38 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt
Size:
5.85 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
LICENSE.txt
Size:
2.61 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
Collections
Rice University Electronic Theses and Dissertations