April 3, 2023: Chapter by Olga Povoroznyuk & Peter Schweitzer in “The Siberian World”

The chapter “What difference does a railroad make?” by Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer is focusing on the impact of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) in Eastern Siberia in the 1970s-1980s. Special attention is paid to the role of the cities of Tynda and Severobaikalsk which were founded along the BAM at that time. In their paper, the authors are also addressing the impact of the railroad on the local indigenous communities.

The volume The Siberian World is a collection of insightful papers based on various ethnographic studies dealing with a variety of topics such as indigenous rights and the impact of climate change.

Ziker, J.P., Ferguson, J., & Davydov, V. (Eds.). (2023). The Siberian World. Routledge.

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Jan 2026: InfraNorth Contributions to Forthcoming Book “Arctic Silk Roads”

InfraNorth researchers contribute two chapters to the forthcoming book Arctic Silk Roads: An Anthropology of the Unbuilt, edited by Natalia Magnani and Matthew Magnani. The volume will be published by Berghahn Books in January 2026 as part of the Studies in the Circumpolar North series. As climate change accelerates, the melting of sea ice is […]

Dec 2025: Peter Schweitzer Interviewed on Austrian Public Radio Ö1

The Austrian public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) featured InfraNorth principal investigator Peter Schweitzer in an interview on its Ö1 weekend feuilleton “Diagonal” on December 6, 2025, which focused on the politics of infrastructure. Schweitzer appeared in a segment titled “A Silk Road Across the Arctic” (in German: Seidenstrasse über die Arktis), interviewed by Erich Klein […]

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Dec 2025: Forthcoming Special Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The forthcoming special issue “Ethnographies of Infrastructure” of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, guest edited by Philipp Budka, Peter Schweitzer, and Olga Povoroznyuk, is progressively being made available online ahead of the print edition, which will appear in February 2026. The introduction, authored by Schweitzer, Povoroznyuk, and Budka, is now available open-access. It presents the […]

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Dec 2025: Article by Peter Schweitzer, et al. in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography has recently published the article “Scenarios and Ethnography: Infrastructural Futures as Windows into the Present” by Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Philipp Budka, Alexandra Meyer, Katrin Schmid, and Nikita Strelkovskii. This article reflects on two scenario workshops conducted in 2023 in Kirkenes, Norway, and Churchill, Canada, as part of the ERC […]

Peter Schweitzer appointed to the EPB Executive Committee. Photo by Heribert Corn.

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Dec 2025: Peter Schweitzer Appointed to the European Polar Board’s Executive Committee

Peter Schweitzer, principal investigator of InfraNorth and board member of the Austrian Polar Research Institute, has been appointed to the Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the European Polar Board (EPB). His election took place during the Board’s autumn plenary meeting on November 18–19, 2025, which was hosted on the campus of the TÜBİTAK Polar Research Institute […]

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Dec 2025: Article by Katrin Schmid in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography has published the article “Amazon in the Arctic: E-Commerce, Infrastructure, and Alimentary Assemblages in Nunavut, Canada” by InfraNorth researcher Katrin Schmid. Since establishing a delivery hub in Iqaluit, Nunavut in 2020, Amazon.com, Inc. has become an essential resource for many Nunavut residents, providing affordable access to goods otherwise constrained by […]