Mar 2025: Chapter by Olga Povoroznyuk in “A Fractured North – Maintaining Connections”
The third volume of the Fractured North book series, edited by Erich Kasten, Igor Krupnik, and Gail Fondahl, has recently been released by SEC Publications, the publishing house of Kulturstiftung Sibirien. The volume includes a chapter by Olga Povoroznyuk, titled “Reconceptualizing Siberia: a personal account of a changing field.” In it, she reflects on her journey in the anthropology of Siberia and the North, addressing the impact of the recently re-emerged Arctic divide on international research and contacts in this field.
In doing so, she conceptualizes Siberia and anthropological research on the region in broader geopolitical and epistemological contexts, providing a personal account of changing research topics, approaches, and practices that constituted Russian and Austrian traditions in Siberian ethnology and anthropology after the Cold War.
Povorozynuk offers a critical analysis of the intersections of industrialization, environmental degradation, and authoritarianism in shaping the socioeconomic and cultural landscapes of Siberia and the Arctic. She highlights the growing epistemological divide and the challenges facing anthropological research in these regions. Despite the complexity, the chapter concludes with a hopeful note on the potential for maintaining connections across a fractured North. The full chapter is available online and can be found on pages 89–105 of A Fractured North – Maintaining Connections.
