The Eurasian Knot

Debates about climate change and what to do about it occur a perilous political climate. It’s a problem that requires international cooperation. But elected politicians increasingly deny climate change, break global agreements, turn inward, and embrace authoritarianism. It’s a situation that both Eve Darian-Smith and Boris Schneider know well. Darian-Smith has written about the right-wing political responses to climate change, particularly to devastating fires, in the US, Brazil, and Australia. Schneider watches climate policy in Eurasia. What are some of the issues that intersect these regions? Are there shared ideological and policy actions? And what of resistance by climate groups hoping to stem the tide? These questions and more, are in this first episode of a six-part interview series “Eurasian Environments: Climate Justice and Sustainability in Global Context.” In each episode, experts on Eurasia are put in dialogue with focusing on Europe, Africa, and Latin America. https://lnkd.in/eWjsHMCm

Brian Fairley, UCIS Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, studies song, sound, and media across historical and ethnographic settings. His manuscript, “Separating Sounds: A Media History of Georgian Polyphony,” excavates a series of experimental recordings of Georgian music from 1916 to today. Check out this week's episode, "Recording Georgians in WWI POW Camps," to learn more about Brian's studies in the world of sound! https://lnkd.in/gyuVjUH9

In 1916, the German anthropologist Rudolf Pöch and musicologist Robert Lach set out to the Eger prisoner of war camp with a unique research agenda: to record the language and folk songs of Georgian prisoners from the Russian Empire. The recording equipment was clunky and its recordings scratchy and faint. Nevertheless, Pöch and Lach were doing some innovative recordings, not just in terms of their ethnographic research, but using multi-channel recording to capture Georgian polyphonic singing. What were these recordings for? How did they fit into theories of race science of the time? And just who was Lavrosi Mamaldze, the Georgian singer these recordings documented? The Eurasian Knot wanted to learn more and sat down with Brian Fairley to talk about his deep dive into early twentieth century audio recording in WWI POW camps. https://lnkd.in/gyuVjUH9

Neoliberalism has so many meanings that some say it has no meaning. Nailing down a consensus is also hampered by the fact that no one calls themselves a “neoliberal.” There’s even calls to abandon the term altogether since it’s become more a slur than doctrine needing analysis. Enter Max Trecker. He took the debate over neoliberalism as an opportunity to investigate its intellectual origins in the 1920s and 1930s. What did it mean then? What was neoliberal thought a reaction to? And what would those neoliberals think today? Also, in this interview, Max talks about an additional project: How Ukraine has been imagined as an economic space. It’s an issue not only of historical import, but enormous relevance today as Ukraine plans its postwar future. https://lnkd.in/eUZnjtTf

In 1844, Karl Marx wrote, "Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good." So, ask yourself, "Do I want to be good?" One way is to become a patron of the Eurasian Knot. With your generous patronage, we will be able to pay for labor, buy equipment and supplies, and pay for hosting, editing and mastering of the show. It also tells us that you love the Eurasian Knot enough to invest in it. You even get some extra perks. But mostly our love in return. We aren't asking much. patreon.com/euraknot

In 1941, as Nazi forces laid siege to Leningrad, a group of Soviet botanists faced an unthinkable choice: eat their life’s work, a rare seed bank, or starve to death. This is the dilemma at the heart of Simon Parkin’s story about the world's first seed bank and its dedicated botanists. At the heart of this tale is Nikolai Vavilov, a brilliant botanist who traveled five continents collecting specimens before falling victim to Stalin's purges. Through meticulous research and newly accessed archives, Parkin reveals a vivid tale of the sacrifice of 19 scientists during the siege’s 900 days. The Eurasian Knot spoke to Parkin to learn more about Vavilov’s seed bank, the moral dimensions of choosing science over death, and how their legacy lives on in modern agriculture. https://lnkd.in/eZmHRpTf

Vladimir Kozlov’s new book "Shramy" (Scars) explores street battles between anti-fascists and neo-Nazi skinheads in Moscow during the late 2000s. No stranger to these subcultures, Kozlov uses "Shramy" to reflect on the roots of Russian fascism in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How did elements of neo-Nazi subculture seep into the Russian mainstream? And how does the Putin regime manipulate “Nazism” and “anti-fascism” for its own domestic and geopolitical ends? The Eurasian Knot spoke to Kozlov about his punk past, how it shaped the writing of "Shramy," and how violence, ideology, and the complexities of Russian society have led to public support for the war in Ukraine. https://lnkd.in/eNqhCnx3

Attention all EuraKnot friends! 🚨 Due to the recent shift from our old website to Acast, our sound submissions form has changed locations! To submit your sounds, follow the link below or click the "Contact/Send a sound" link on the homepage of our Acast. https://lnkd.in/eHJfy5ZP

Meet this week's featured guest, Adriana Helbig! Dr. Helbig is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in Applied Ethnomusicology. Her book "ReSounding Poverty: Romani Music and Development Aid" synthesizes her 20 years as an ethnographer working on Romani music, culture, and human rights in Europe. For more on Romani music, listen to our interview with her below: https://lnkd.in/efEgz3Wr

Who speaks for whom within the Romani rights movement today? This is the question that drives Adriana Helbig’s investigation into the relationship between development aid and Romani musicians in her book, Resounding Poverty. Her findings are crucial as are provocative: NGOs unintentionally perpetuate narratives of Romani life that continue to marginalize the poorest among them. And while aid is crucial, it also fails to address issues of poverty, community, and health particularly in rural areas. The Eurasian Knot spoke to Helbig about the fraught and complicated presence of NGOs in postsocialist space, the tensions between aid and agency, the pressure Romani musicians face to perform "gypsiness" for non-Romani audiences, and her personal insights about conducting research in Ukraine and how her own family history intersects with her academic work. We even listen to some music by the Carpathian Ensemble, a University of Pittsburgh student group that Helbig directed. highlighting the challenges and rewards of representing Romani music in an academic context. https://lnkd.in/efEgz3Wr