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

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dc.contributor.advisorGeorges, Eugeniaen_US
dc.contributor.advisorBallestero, Andreaen_US
dc.creatorLotterman, Charlesen_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-24T21:02:54Zen_US
dc.date.created2022-12en_US
dc.date.issued2023-04-17en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2022en_US
dc.date.updated2023-05-24T21:02:55Zen_US
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.en_US
dc.embargo.lift2023-12-01en_US
dc.embargo.terms2023-12-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
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>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/114892en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
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.en_US
dc.subjectAnthropology of scienceen_US
dc.subjectanthropology of Europeen_US
dc.titleThe Power of the Personal: Science and Society in Postsocialist Czech Republicen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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