Eurasian History Speakers Talk by Marc Elie

The History, Philosophy and Religious Studies Department is pleased to announce the next lecture of our traditional Eurasian History Speakers talk series which will be delivered on Tuesday.

Speaker: Marc Elie has been a researcher at the Centre for Russian, Caucasian and Central European Studies (Paris, France) since 2009, specializing in the environmental history of the Soviet Union. Following the defense of his doctoral dissertation in 2007, which examined the experiences of former Gulag inmates during the Thaw period (1953–1964), he turned his attention to the study of natural and industrial disasters in the USSR. He is currently preparing a monograph on droughts in the Soviet steppe regions, with a particular focus on northern Kazakhstan. His research also explores the international history of soil science. In addition, he has investigated Soviet approaches to disaster mitigation, including protection against mudslides and avalanches in Kazakhstan, as well as the response to the 1988 Spitak earthquake.

Title: Heavy Metal Pollution and Public Health in Kazakhstan’s Industrial Cities, 1950s-1990s

Abstract: In the second half of the 20th century, Kazakhstan’s industrial cities endured staggering levels of pollution and, as a consequence, a stark deterioration of public health. In my talk I handle the case of Öskemen (Ust’-Kamenogorsk), a major industrial hub for non-ferrous metals and the uranium cycle in Eastern Kazakhstan. The municipal territory, home to 325,000 people, was occupied by 245 factories, 85 of them highly dangerous and polluting. Air, water, soil and organisms were contaminated with heavy metals. Each inhabitant absorbed 2.5 to 11.5 times the maximum dose of lead through food, and another maximum dose through water; in addition, they suffered one tonne of toxic atmospheric emissions per year. The dramatic health situation belatedly gave rise to protests for a few months in 1990. The aim of this talk is to elucidate the origins, unfolding and consequences of the mass demonstrations.