Agency In A Time Of Uncertainty

This week’s section of Petryna’s Life Exposed took a further look at the response of both citizens and governmental agencies in dealing with the aftermath of the nuclear disaster. It is clear that a desire for agency and economic security was a major motivating factor for people living in the affected zones. I can only classify it as a tragic situation given that people were so desperate for financial support that they would willingly sacrifice their health and the health of their family members in order to be classified as disabled. People underwent slow and painful deaths characterized by pain, confusion, and a general deterioration of their organs under the assumption that the family they left behind would be able to receive compensation, a compensation that was as many found, not guaranteed. Yet, in a time when the economy was so uncertain, being sick was the best way that many saw to secure their futures

The acceptance and desire to be sick that characterized those affected by the disaster after the Ukrainian government took over stands in stark contrast to the previous soviet model in which working was an obligation and being sick put one in danger of serious repercussions. One thing that remained in the Ukrainian controlled Chernobyl was the notion that “to be sick meant that one had to be equally motivated to work to obtain permission to be sick” (90). However, this ‘permission’ was much different and easier to obtain under the Ukrainian model and a positive outcome meant even greater benefits. Unfortunately for those afflicted, this permission was subjective in part due to the fact that both the Soviets and the Ukrainians failed to adequately study epidemiological evidence of connections between symptoms and radiation. Now, we can only speculate on what the economic burden of the sick would have been on the government if they had developed a more systematic way to determine if people were really disabled by the nuclear explosion.