Dec 2025: Article by Elena Davydova and Olga Povoroznyuk in Polar Geography
The quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal Polar Geography has recently published the article “Temporality of Arctic Transport Infrastructure: Bridging Seasonal Supply in Egvekinot, Chukotka” by InfraNorth researchers Elena Davydova and Olga Povoroznyuk.
The article explores local impacts of, and responses to, seasonal configurations of connectivity and disruptions in the functioning of transport infrastructure in the Russian Arctic. While paying due attention to longue durée – historical processes and modernization ideologies – in the shaping of infrastructure, communities, and social relations in the Russian Arctic, the authors’ main focus is on the cyclical, repetitive, and fleeting seasonal time.
Building on social science and anthropological literature on temporality and seasonality of infrastructure and social life, they engage with the concepts of rhythm and taskscape. Drawing on qualitative ethnographic data collected in the coastal town and regional hub of Egvekinot, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the authors emphasize how transport infrastructures, subject to ongoing social and environmental changes, are perceived and used as highly seasonal and constantly evolving structures.
Their case study shows how local residents and actors manage seasonal interruptions in chains of supply through future-oriented dwelling activities. Davydova and Povoroznyuk argue that different seasonal configurations of transport infrastructure serve to fill the gaps in supply chains and to ensure local mobility and provisioning throughout most of the year.
The article is available open-access in Polar Geography.
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Dec 2, 2025: Presentation by Ria-Maria Adams at Maynooth University, Ireland
InfraNorth researcher Ria-Maria Adams will deliver a lecture titled “For Whom Do the Sleigh Bells Toll? Social Media’s Role in Shaping Expectations of Arctic Tourism Destinations” on December 2, 2025, at 16:30 GMT, at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, as part of its Anthropology Seminar Series. The talk will delve into how tourism infrastructures […]
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Nov 2025: Special Issue of “Anthropologica” Co-edited by Giuseppe Amatulli and Philipp Budka
A new special issue of Anthropologica (Vol. 67, No. 1, 2025), the journal of the Canadian Anthropology Society, has just been published. Titled “Narratives and Temporalities of Infrastructure: The Canadian Experience,” the issue was co-edited by Giuseppe Amatulli (Carleton University) and InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka and presents anthropological perspectives on water, energy and transport infrastructures […]
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Nov 2025: Article by Julia Olsen, Alexandra Meyer, et al. in The Polar Journal
The Polar Journal, which publishes policy-relevant research on polar affairs from across the social sciences and humanities, has recently released the article ‘Building transdisciplinary bridges and learning from the Svalbard context’ by Julia Olsen, Alexandra Meyer, and Lisbeth Iversen, Ulrich Schildberg, Ragnhild Holmen Bjørnsen, Grete K. Hovelsrud, James Badu, Dina Brode-Roger, Adriana Craciun, Hanne H. […]
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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 […]
