Mutual aid and self-sufficiency are key to life near USSR's contaminated nuclear test zone in Kazakhstan
April 08, 2026, Magdalena Stawkowski
Writing for The Conversation, associate professor Magdalena Stawkowski describes her field research at a Soviet-era nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. Thousands still live around its cratered perimeter and stay because of their collective refusal to reject systems that had abandoned them and instead create their own terms for survival.