Nov 22, 2024: Presentations by Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk at the AAA 2024 Annual Meeting

Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk will be presenting at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 20 – 23, 2024, in Tampa, USA. This year’s conference is centered around the theme Praxis, considering the present and future praxis of anthropology, the application of praxis in our communities, and praxis as collaborative work.

On Friday 22 November, from 12:45 pm to 2:15 pm (EDT), the two InfraNorth team members will contribute to the panel “Anthropological Perspectives on Climate Change and Infrastructure” (session 1584 – part 1), which focuses on the impact of climate change on Arctic infrastructure and sustainable infrastructure development in a shifting environment:

  • Peter Schweitzer will present “Climate Change and the Built Environment: Arctic Perspectives,” focusing on different forms of (transport) infrastructure in the North American, European and – to a lesser extent – the Russian Arctic. He will examine whether roads and other forms of infrastructure can enable sustainable livelihoods, or whether they are simply triggers and/or symptoms of environmental change.
  • Olga Povoroznyuk will present “Maritime Infrastructure: Global Climate Change and Connectivity in a Divided Arctic,” based on her ethnographic research on seaport expansions in Tiksi (Russia), Nome (USA), and Kirkenes (Norway). She will explore the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of maritime infrastructure while reflecting on the promises and threats these projects pose for Arctic coastal communities in a context of climate change and reconfiguring global connections.

In addition, on Wednesday 20 November, from 10:15 am to 11:45 am (EDT), Peter Schweitzer will be part of a round table on “Gender and Kinship in Deep Past: Unified Analysis in the 21st Century?”

The full program is available online here.

Sep 2026: Chapter by Peter Schweitzer in “Anthropology in Motion” (Andre Gingrich, Ed.) Now Open Access

The book chapter “Remote connections: Human entanglements with built and natural environments in the Arctic and elsewhere,” written by InfraNorth principal investigator Peter Schweitzer and published as part of Anthropology in Motion, edited by Andre Gingrich and published by Sean Kingston Publishing in 2021, is now available open access. In the chapter, Schweitzer revisits the […]

Vienna Anthropology Days - VANDA 2027 Call for Papers

Call for Papers on “High Altitudes, High Latitudes: Engaging with Cryospheric Livelihoods” for VANDA Conference 2027

We invite paper proposals for our panel “High Altitudes, High Latitudes: Engaging with Cryospheric Livelihoods” at the Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) 2027, hosted by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna, 16-19 February 2027. The cryosphere, defined by frozen water in all its forms, has attracted considerable attention of late […]

Vienna Anthropology Days - VANDA 2027 Call for Papers

Call for Papers on “Infrastructuring Green Transitions” for VANDA Conference 2027

We invite paper proposals for our panel “Infrastructuring Green Transitions” at the Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) 2027, hosted by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna, 16-19 February 2027. The green transition marks a shift away from fossil fuel-based, high-carbon economic activity toward more sustainable systems of production, consumption, and […]

Vienna Anthropology Days - VANDA 2027 Call for Papers

Call for Papers on “Whose Arctic Futures? Unsettling Northern Transport Infrastructures” for VANDA Conference 2027

We invite paper proposals for our panel “Whose Arctic Futures? Unsettling Northern Transport Infrastructures” at the Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) 2027, hosted by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna, 16-19 February 2027. The Arctic, which during the post-Cold War period at the turn of the last century seemed to […]

Vienna Anthropology Days - VANDA 2027 Call for Papers

Call for Papers on “Infrastructures: Questions, Debates, and Directions” for VANDA 2027

We invite paper proposals for our panel “Infrastructures: Questions, Debates, and Directions” at the Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) 2027, hosted by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna, 16-19 February 2027. The panel explores infrastructure as both an object of anthropological inquiry and an analytical lens. It welcomes empirical, conceptual, […]

Cover of the Polar Geography journal.

Aug 2026: Introduction to InfraNorth Special Issue in Polar Geography

The quarterly peer-reviewed journal Polar Geography has published the introduction to the forthcoming special issue “Transport infrastructure and population in the Arctic.” The introduction has been written by InfraNorth senior researcher Timothy Heleniak and principal investigator Peter Schweitzer. Published online in August 2026, the introduction presents the special issue emerging from the InfraNorth project. At […]