Fragile instruments and frontier-making science in the Himalayas

Public Anthropologist Podcast

In the 10th episode of PUAN podcast, co-host Saumya Pandey speaks with Geoscientist Jakob Steiner and Historian Lachlan Fleetwood on the 19th century imperialist traditions of remaking the Himalayas as geographical frontiers. We reflect on the genealogy of this Himalayan-frontier science. Jakob and Fleetwood discuss the fragile instruments and modes of measurements that reveal the limits of science and imperial projects in making sense of the Himalayas. The conversation reflects most on the reproduction of inequalities and biases in the field sites towards the local communities, and the political implications of similar scientific projects, today.