Jun 20, 2024: Polar Journal Features Research by Katrin Schmid

Screenshot of the article by Ole Ellekrog on PolarJournal.ch

Polar Journal, an online information platform on polar affairs, recently published an article titled “Nunavut communities in petition to regain access to vital Amazon deliveries.” The piece, written by Ole Ellekrog, features insights from Katrin Schmid’s research in Nunavut, as well as her recent blog post “Amazon in the Arctic.

Drawing on conversations that the InfraNorth researcher had with residents of Nunavut during her fieldwork, the article highlights the crucial role that the trillion-dollar corporation Amazon.com, Inc. has played for local communities since opening a warehouse in Iqaluit in 2020. The new Amazon hub allowed people living in remote areas of northern Canada to access previously unaffordable goods without shipping costs. This was especially important in a region where transportation logistics, storage capacities, and food insecurity are critical issues. However, the company discontinued access to free deliveries in the spring of 2024. The article follows a recent petition campaign to extend Amazon Prime services to the region.

Read the full article here.

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 […]

Presentation by Philipp Budka at the IKSA Wednesday Seminars

Nov 5, 2025: Presentation by Philipp Budka at the University of Vienna

On November 5, 2025, at 5:00 pm CET, InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka will deliver a lecture titled “Sovereignty by Design: Community Infrastructures and Relational Futures in Remote Canada,” as part of the Wednesday Seminars, the lecture series of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Budka’s talk examines infrastructural sovereignty—the […]

The skyline of Anchorage, Alaska, as seen from the airport. Photo by Peter Schweitzer.

Oct 2025: Presentation by Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer in Anchorage, Alaska

Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer presented findings from the InfraNorth project at the ARCA co-creative community workshop “Biocultural Heritage and Climate Adaptation in Arctic Cities,” held on October 7–8, 2025, at The Nave in Anchorage, Alaska. Their presentation drew connections between their recent research conducted in Anchorage and other field sites in Alaska: on the […]

Oct 1, 2025: InfraNorth Presentations at the 2025 GASCA Conference “Un/Commoning Anthropology”

On October 1, 2025, InfraNorth researchers Philipp Budka, Elena Davydova, Katrin Schmid and Susanna Gartler will present at the 2025 conference of the German Association for Social and Cultural Anthropology (GASCA/DGKSA). This year’s edition will be held from September 29 to October 2, 2025, at the University of Köln, under the theme “Un/Commoning Anthropology.” Temporalities […]

10th EUGEO Congress Vienna 2025

Sep 10, 2025: Presentation by Alexis Sancho Reinoso at the EUGEO Congress 2025

At the EUGEO Congress 2025 in Vienna, held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences from September 8 to 11, Alexis Sancho Reinoso will present a paper co-authored with Timothy Heleniak: “Turning the Faroes Into One City. Demographic and Spatial Impacts of 60 Years of Transport Infrastructure Expansion.” The paper presents findings from their research in […]