In her article, “The Dying Russians,” Masha Gessen juxtaposes the research techniques of two professionals eager to identify the source of the heightened death rate in Russia. As others have said, and as I concur, this piece aligns nicely with Ziblatt’s article on the Middle Range Theory. Parsons represents what Zilbatt refers to as a hedgehog, as she was on the quest “for a single grand synthesis of politics,” in her goal to explore the cultural context of the Russian mortality crisis. Her scope of study manages to be simultaneously too broad and too narrow. To study the “cultural context” as a whole is both unrealistic and almost unachievable given Parson’s limited cultural context. She lives in the very context that she attempts to study, and because of this, she is blind to certain truths about Russian culture. Gessen makes this clear when she writes, “Parsons and her subjects, whom she quotes at length, seem to have an acute understanding of the first two forces shaping Soviet society but are almost completely blind to the last.” Conversely,\u00a0Nicholas Eberstadt works inductively which allows him to identify the more\u00a0gradual changes that have been underway well before 1991. Though his methodology is more fox-like, and thus (as said by Ziblatt) becomes superior, I think that he is missing a key part of study. A lot of students have expressed a distrust in Parsons interviewing of Russian middle-aged citizens, I think that it adds a crucial element to this investigation. You cannot come to a conclusion about a culture without what Geertz describes as a “thick description.” And in order to gain a thick description one has to immerse themselves in that culture, and realize their own bias as an analysis. I feel that Eberstadt does not do enough to immerse himself in this culture, and seems to miss key interactions with the very people who live in this context. But in conclusion, I would say that it is hard to know if there is a truth\u00a0that lies beyond the grasp of social or even medical science. I say this because it is hard to prove something to the point where it can never be disproven, and it is easy to say that something is law and have it later uncovered. This does not meant that we should stop trying, because I think that parts of the objective truth are being uncovered everyday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In her article, “The Dying Russians,” Masha Gessen juxtaposes the research techniques of two professionals eager to identify the source of the heightened death rate in Russia. As others have said, and as I concur, this piece aligns nicely with … Continue reading