Frederic Le Marcis
наука и жизнь (Science and life.) Russian-Guinean scientific cooperation looking for viruses in the sub-prefecture of Madina Oula (1980-1990)
Madina Oula, a sub-prefecture on the border between Guinea and Sierra Leone, was the site of a long research collaboration between Soviet and Guinean scientists from the early 1980s until 1990. Using the title of the Russian journal "Science and Life", this paper aims to take an anthropological look at this scientific activity.
Behind this significant scientific production, a Cold War scene was played out in the virologic field, whose imaginary, practices and consequences in the field will be examined looking at the experience of Guinean fieldworkers from Pastoria Research Centre (Kindia). We will see how this initial collaboration is being replayed today in new ways, extending the Russian-Guinean bilateral relationship and its ambitions, but with new actors and in the context of renewed Russian-Guinean collaboration logics.
Frédéric Le Marcis is a Professor of Social Anthropology at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, currently associate to TransVIHMI research group (IRD UMI 233 – Inserm U 1175 – Université de Montpellier) and based in Guinea. His research explores health issues in West and Southern Africa and the circulation of global models of care and punishment.
