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Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl
On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in then Soviet Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people in Ukraine alone, not to mention many citizens of surrounding countries, are still suffering the effects. Life Exposed is the first book to comprehensively examine the vexed political, scientific, and social circumstances that followed the disaster. Tracing the story from an initial lack of disclosure to post-Soviet democratizing attempts to compensate sufferers, Adriana Petryna uses anthropological tools to take us into a world whose social realities are far more immediate and stark than those described by policymakers and scientists. She What happens to politics when state officials fail to inform their fellow citizens of real threats to life? What are the moral and political consequences of remedies available in the wake of technological disasters? Through extensive research in state institutions, clinics, laboratories, and with affected families and workers of the so-called Zone, Petryna illustrates how the event and its aftermath have not only shaped the course of an independent nation but have made health a negotiated realm of entitlement. She tracks the emergence of a "biological citizenship" in which assaults on health become the coinage through which sufferers stake claims for biomedical resources, social equity, and human rights. Life Exposed provides an anthropological framework for understanding the politics of emergent democracies, the nature of citizenship claims, and everyday forms of survival as they are interwoven with the profound changes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 8, 2023
An ethnography of enormous scale and importance. This is one of the best ethnographies I’ve ever read. The details make this sense text engaging and easy to follow. An absolute masterclass in writing about science interacts. with the human body through political, economic, and social institutions. Easily my nerdiest 5 star rated book.
October 13, 2017
Read in college for an anthropology class on Eastern Europe and the fall of the Soviet Union. It was interesting to see how large of a region Chernobyl impacted and how the politics of the day really influenced how the event was treated.
October 27, 2022
Excelent insight into catastrophy of Chernobyl and the biological and medical consequences of it. The author proposes new category - biological citizenship, that describes relationship between a person and a state in the context of social security and medical services provided by the state.
January 2, 2026
International science agencies contributed to the lack of accountability and transparency in the aftermath of Chernobyl in a number of ways. Petryna describes how the Chernobyl accident led to unprecedented scientific collaboration between Western scientific leaders, like Americans, and the Soviets. Yet, these international players contributed to defining the victims of Chernobyl as a small, “acute accident” population, defined by a very particular and obscure measurement system. The framing of this as an “accident context” allowed for the US and Soviets to take an interventionist stance, where experimental treatments such as bone marrow transplants could be tested on this specific population. Additionally, by involving international bodies in the aftermath of Chernobyl, this led to an understanding that only experts could assess biological risk and safety, buttressing the political status of the Soviet government, despite a lack of reasonable scientific evidence to back up their response to Chernobyl. Further, international agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency were influenced by their own conflicts of interest, such as advancing nuclear energy, rather than properly assessing the radiation exposure.
These disingenuous efforts led international nuclear efforts to announce the death toll of Chernobyl as thirty-one victims. Yet, local experts stated that this number is in the hundreds of thousands. As the following chapters show, the impact of Chernobyl led to higher cancer incidence rates, neurological impacts, physical disabilities, and many other health impacts that become highly disputed in the determination of who is considered to be a “sufferer” of Chernobyl.
According to Petryna, biological citizenship for those who gained the status as “sufferers” entitled them to significant benefits from the state. In this way, those who were deemed “sufferers” were able to maintain a tie with the state which allowed them “some measure of protection against the vagaries of joblessness and social disorientation” (p. 85). However, many Ukrainians were left out of biological citizenship. Petryna showed that those who had money or influence could bribe their way into getting a diagnosis of an illness that qualified them to be “sufferers.” Others could manipulate the medical system by presenting their symptoms in a specific way that would allow them to receive the official Chernobyl tie, rather than simply a psychological diagnosis. Some Ukrainians sought this claim of suffering “too late,” such as when specific markers of a radiation exposure were no longer present, and instead chose to work until they were no longer physically able. Claims of Chernobyl-related illness became a politically and economically contested phenomenon, as the Ukrainian government worked to establish their political independence and legitimacy through their attempts to classify different levels of suffering. As a result, some citizens were protected by this “biopolitical regime,” while others were not, leading to the naturalization of social and economic inequality.
These disingenuous efforts led international nuclear efforts to announce the death toll of Chernobyl as thirty-one victims. Yet, local experts stated that this number is in the hundreds of thousands. As the following chapters show, the impact of Chernobyl led to higher cancer incidence rates, neurological impacts, physical disabilities, and many other health impacts that become highly disputed in the determination of who is considered to be a “sufferer” of Chernobyl.
According to Petryna, biological citizenship for those who gained the status as “sufferers” entitled them to significant benefits from the state. In this way, those who were deemed “sufferers” were able to maintain a tie with the state which allowed them “some measure of protection against the vagaries of joblessness and social disorientation” (p. 85). However, many Ukrainians were left out of biological citizenship. Petryna showed that those who had money or influence could bribe their way into getting a diagnosis of an illness that qualified them to be “sufferers.” Others could manipulate the medical system by presenting their symptoms in a specific way that would allow them to receive the official Chernobyl tie, rather than simply a psychological diagnosis. Some Ukrainians sought this claim of suffering “too late,” such as when specific markers of a radiation exposure were no longer present, and instead chose to work until they were no longer physically able. Claims of Chernobyl-related illness became a politically and economically contested phenomenon, as the Ukrainian government worked to establish their political independence and legitimacy through their attempts to classify different levels of suffering. As a result, some citizens were protected by this “biopolitical regime,” while others were not, leading to the naturalization of social and economic inequality.
October 19, 2023
this book was good but denseeee. brought up some super interesting points like biological citizenship and illness as work!
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March 22, 2025Reading this as a companion to Chernobyl Prayer by Alexievich.
January 9, 2026
Where biology and politics clash after Chernobyl, my medical anthropology professor was cooking here.
March 15, 2016
The Chernobyl nuclear explosion of the unit four reactor affected more than 3.5 million people in the then Soviet Ukraine and its surrounding countries on April 26, 1986. The citizens of this country still hurt from its effects and Petryna explores what happens when the political system does not disclose information about the explosion to the people. Also discussed are the political and moral costs of remedies available in the aftermath of technological disasters.
Furthermore, Petryna seeks to explain how the Chernobyl event and its subsequent effects have changed the course of an independent nation and how health has turned into a negotiated realm of entitlement. She expands upon Foucault's idea of bio politics, how “health was recast in the service of the state” to the idea of “biological citizenship,” in which people affected (sufferers) assert their rights for medicine, social equity and human rights. In order words, the level of exposure determines an individual’s relationship to the state.
Petryna conducted interviews in state institutions, clinics, laboratories, and with affected families and workers of the Zone(s). She categorizes the people of Ukraine in terms of sufferers or disabled and the ramifications of being put into either category. These ramifications include the type of benefits each receive from treatment for thyroid cancers and heart conditions to allotted amounts of money they get from the government, and how secure they and their future generations will be. The types of interviews included one of a taxi driver who drove to contaminated zones for higher wages of compensation but is now recovering from a landslide of radiation-induced illness that became visible at a later point in his life. Another interviewer was a man who had connections in government and enough scientific knowledge to change his “vegetovascular dystonia” diagnosis to one that would allow him to get to disabled status and receive more benefits. Other cases included those whose illnesses did not appear within the acceptable timelines to qualify for benefits.
Life Exposed explored not only how much illness is worth but also how enacting a sick voice made your life better through claims, how to get the “Chernobyl tie” to your illness to claim benefits, and how public perception of suffering created an interesting dichotomy between sufferers and the stigma of laziness were you labeled a sufferer. Life Exposed provided an anthropological framework for understanding the citizenship claims, the politics of emergent democracies, and everyday forms of survival interwoven with the profound changes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Furthermore, Petryna seeks to explain how the Chernobyl event and its subsequent effects have changed the course of an independent nation and how health has turned into a negotiated realm of entitlement. She expands upon Foucault's idea of bio politics, how “health was recast in the service of the state” to the idea of “biological citizenship,” in which people affected (sufferers) assert their rights for medicine, social equity and human rights. In order words, the level of exposure determines an individual’s relationship to the state.
Petryna conducted interviews in state institutions, clinics, laboratories, and with affected families and workers of the Zone(s). She categorizes the people of Ukraine in terms of sufferers or disabled and the ramifications of being put into either category. These ramifications include the type of benefits each receive from treatment for thyroid cancers and heart conditions to allotted amounts of money they get from the government, and how secure they and their future generations will be. The types of interviews included one of a taxi driver who drove to contaminated zones for higher wages of compensation but is now recovering from a landslide of radiation-induced illness that became visible at a later point in his life. Another interviewer was a man who had connections in government and enough scientific knowledge to change his “vegetovascular dystonia” diagnosis to one that would allow him to get to disabled status and receive more benefits. Other cases included those whose illnesses did not appear within the acceptable timelines to qualify for benefits.
Life Exposed explored not only how much illness is worth but also how enacting a sick voice made your life better through claims, how to get the “Chernobyl tie” to your illness to claim benefits, and how public perception of suffering created an interesting dichotomy between sufferers and the stigma of laziness were you labeled a sufferer. Life Exposed provided an anthropological framework for understanding the citizenship claims, the politics of emergent democracies, and everyday forms of survival interwoven with the profound changes that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
March 10, 2009
I'll always be biased to books that revolve around Eastern European cultures. Nonetheless, Petryna illuminates vital philosophies of medical anthropology. Adriana Petryna's Life Exposed delves into the political and social complications that developed in Ukraine after the explosion. Such complications ultimately created a hierarchy of human value based on scientific jargon. The Ukrainian government appeals to the international arena not through glorifying their success as post-Soviet nation, but by highlighting their tragic problems. My favorite portions are her interviews with the Ukrainian victims and casualties of Chernobyl. The dialogue almost belongs in a science fiction novel, but even Kurt Vonnegut's Cats Cradle oversimplified the political undertones of the dangers of science.
August 4, 2011
I am not much of a fan of Petryna's writing style, and (in agreement with a colleague who made this comment as I was beginning the book) I do wish that she had gotten to the stories of real people much sooner in her text. There seems to be a dirth of rich ethnography in this ostensibly ethnographic book. Regardless, her analysis is sharp and wrought. The book won numerous awards in spite of the unnecessarily dense and god-like writing style, which is a point in it's favor as far as I am concerned. The prose isn't the best, but the content is indespensable for anyone working in medical anthropology, Eastern European studies, or Post-Soviet studies.
May 20, 2010
An ethnographic account of how Ukrainian citizens become biological citizens, foregoing all other identities, in order to get treatment for the effects of low dose radiation brought on my the Chernobyl catastrophe. The analysis are clear, and thorough. Petryna uses individuals' stories to reveal the political and social realities that sufferers must deal with on a day to day basis. Although its very fact heavy and not targeted to the general public her writing style coupled with the organization and selection of individuals makes this a very enjoyable book to read.
February 16, 2007
A bit slow going and quite dry (in the boring way) at times, but interesting nonetheless. I don't quite know for sure, but it's quite possible that this book came from a doctoral dissertation. Anyway, you'll learn a few interesting and disturbing things about Chernobyl, that's for damn sure.
February 16, 2008
As a tudent of Dr. Petryna's husband (Joao Biehl), I read this book as part of his class on medical anthropology. I still refer to it today both as a psychologist and a public health practitioner. Excellent work, very informative. An anthropological work of the highest caliber.
June 5, 2007
I really love this ethnography ... it was great ...
May 13, 2008
Important book, but frustrating to read. Needed editing.
September 12, 2010
Just read this book last week and think it's fascinating. Such an interesting take on the strange ways that science and social order intertwine. And just a good read as well.
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January 4, 2021interesting perspective on biopolitics and how sometimes lack of government intervention is the worst choice of government intervention
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews