Nature Protests: The End of Ecology in Slovakia

Acknowledgments

the research for this book was made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation, the International Research and Exchanges Board (irex), and the Fulbright Institute for International Education (iie), as well as by support from the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (accels) and the Thomas Kukuika Memorial Scholarship through the Slovak Studies program at the University of Pittsburgh. The Office for the Advancement of Research at John Jay College also provided a grant in support of publication. A number of people and organizations have been helpful to me in the fieldwork for this project and in the writing of this study. I should like to express my thanks and gratitude to all of them. In Slovakia, Juraj Podoba provided personal guidance and inspiration for the project. During my fieldwork the Ethnology Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences provided me with office space and its director, Duêan Ratica, gave generously of his time and resources. All of the members of the Ethnology Institute welcomed me with a stimulating research environment and warm hospitality . Nora Hložeková, Viera Zimová, and Maria Paniaková, who comprised the staff of the Fulbright Program in Slovakia in 1994–1996, deserve special thanks for their energy, organizational skills, and availability to offer and deliver assistance whenever I asked. In Bratislava, so many people befriended me and opened their lives to me. I am indebted in particular to }ubica èipoêová, her mother }uba, her father Zdenek, and her brother Zdeno; Jana Keikeêova; my Slovak “coach,” Beata; Jaromir “the Musician ”; and Martin and Rado. They all shared their lives and their friends xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xii Acknowledgments with me. I could not have completed my fieldwork without the companionship and good cheer of Paul Mego and Patti Tanski-Mego. In the environmental movement, thanks must go to Mikuláê Huba, Juraj Rizman, Juraj Krívoêik, Rasto Prochazka, Juraj Mesík, Juraj Zamkovský, Palo èiroky, Matuê, Po~ko and Sylvia, and all the aktivisti who gave so much of their time, their homes and their thoughts and concerns . I must also thank Andrea Chorvátova, for helping me with access to Green Party archives, for Closely Watched Trains, and for many conversations about ecology and life in general. In Pittsburgh, the Russian and East European Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh, under the direction of Ronal Linden, Bob Donnurummo , and Juliet (Jacobson) Hunt, provided me with a Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship and a remarkable learning and networking environment. In the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Martin Votruba and Sylvia Lorinc delivered outstanding language training and instruction in Slovak. Mary Rusinow graciously shared her home and garden with me at critical moments of data analysis. In NewYork, I should also like to thank Ric Curtis, Chair of the Anthropology Department at John Jay College cuny, for nurturing a particularly supportive academic environment in which to complete the writing of this book. The Faculty Fellowship Writing Program of the City University of New York allowed me time away from the classroom to complete the project and access to keen (and candid) input from cuny colleagues including Valli Rajah, Alyson Cole, Patricia Mathews Salazar, Michelle Rief, and Karlyn Koh. Stephen Steinberg, who led this engaging seminar for new faculty at cuny, deserves special thanks for revitalizing my interest in the project and for encouraging me to “tell the story.” Many other people have read and commented on various versions of the book including Robert Hayden, who was my thesis advisor at Pittsburgh , Andrew Strathern, David Hudgens, Paul Mego (both in the field and after), Charles Dunbar, Chris Svec, David Doellinger, and Padraic Kenney. I must also thank two scholars and teachers who have passed on but who continue to inspire me: Arthur Tuden, who encouraged me to think critically about ecology and culture; and Dennison Rusinow, who led me through East European history with knowledge, good humor, and friendship. I would like to thank Culture, Place, and Nature series editor K. “Shivi” Sivaramakrishnan for his helpful editorial remarks as well as two anony- Acknowledgments xiii mous readers for their thorough, generous, and insightful comments and suggestions. Special thanks must also go to Lorri Hagman, senior editor at University of Washington Press, for all her guidance; to Rachel Scollon for her editorial work; and to Marilyn Trueblood for production assistance. I greatly appreciate the support of my family who helped me...