Research
Komsomolsk, Ukraine, Dissertation Fieldwork,
2002-2003
From May 2002 to January 2003, I conducted a multi-method research project (including a city survey of 4,500 randomly-sampled households, in-depth interviews of informants and households, and ethnographic observations) in Komsomolsk, Ukraine. Komsomolsk was built around Poltava GOK, an iron-ore mine established in 1961. Built around this single, large enterprise, all of the economic, social, and cultural elements in Komsomolsk were financed and managed by Poltava GOK. To this day, the enterprise employs over 35 percent of a predominantly male workforce and plays a critical role in city administration. Below are most of the survey interviewers who conducted door-to-door survey interviews in the sweltering Ukraine summer from June through September 2002.
Social Encounters
This is a photo taken in Dimitrovka, a village located about 20 minutes by bus from Komsomolsk. My friend Tamara Vladimirovna (photographer) often took me to visit Larissa (center) who lived alone and subsisted through managing a garden, a goat, and chickens. Liudmila (right) joined us on this occasion to enjoy goat shashlyk (shishkabob) washed down with beer: a perfect day for a Ukrainian BBQ.
