#691 Radu Umbreș - Living with Distrust: Morality and Cooperation in a Romanian Village
RECORDED ON JULY 19th 2022.
Dr. Radu Umbreș is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at the National School for Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania. Dr. Umbreș does research in Social Anthropology, Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology. He is the author of Living with Distrust: Morality and Cooperation in a Romanian Village.
In this episode, we focus on Living with Distrust. First, we discuss the role of ethnography, and how it is done scientifically. We get into the village of Sateni, the focus the book, and the most interesting aspects of its people’s sociality. We talk about the household, trust among kin, how kinship is determined, and what we can learn about social relationships in mortuary rituals. We also talk about politics in a context of social fragmentation. We discuss how trust is established and maintained, and when distrust is a reasonable strategy. Finally, we get into how a society can function on the basis of strategic and circumstantial relationships, and what we can learn about human cooperation and morality from this ethnography.
Time Links:
Intro
The role of ethnography in anthropology
The village of Sateni, in Romania
The most interesting aspects of sociality in Sateni
The household
Trust among kin, and how kinship is determined
Studying mortuary rituals
Politics in a context of social fragmentation
How trust is established and maintained
When is distrust a reasonable strategy?
What we can learn about human cooperation and morality from this ethnography
Follow Dr. Umbreș’ work!
Follow Dr. Umbreș’ work:
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3KUBvPK
Living with Distrust: https://amzn.to/3Nj23uE