In the article, four foreign researchers with research commitments in Kiruna, Sweden, reflexively examine the imaginaries of Kiruna as either empty or crowded while problematizing the Arctic as a homogenous region. While their scholarly interests (mining, space, education, transport infrastructure) and disciplines are distinct, they reflect on how their convergence in the city indicates broader historical shifts in Arctic imaginaries and the political economies of research, which follow and shape climate geopolitics, development, and cultural practices. In the interstices of these currents, the Arctic – imagined as empty and remote from global metropoles – becomes crowded and connected through mobility to and from as well as within the Arctic, which shapes processes of knowledge production.
The full yearbook is open access and can be read online here.
Date and time: September 10, 2024, from 09:30 to 18:00 CEST. Venue: Nordregio. Holmamiralens Väg 10, Skeppsholmen, 111 49 Stockholm, Sweden (See: Map). Register here for in-person attendance. Register here for online participation. The ERC Advanced Grant project InfraNorth, in collaboration with Nordregio, will host the workshop “Ethnography Beyond the Case Study: Possibilities and Limitations […]
Philipp Budka will be presenting at this year’s Churchill Barber Symposium on Thursday, August 29, 2024, at 09:00 local time (Churchill, Manitoba) or 16:00 CEST. His presentation will discuss the organization and results of two future scenario workshops held in Churchill in 2023. Here is the abstract of his presentation: The Town of Churchill, a […]
The publishing house of Kulturstiftung Sibirien, SEC Publications, has just released the book “A Fractured North – Journeys on Hold,” a collection of texts edited by Erich Kasten, Igor Krupnik, and Gail Fondahl. The book, available in both print and digital versions, features a chapter written by Peter Schweitzer, titled “Openings and Closures: The Anthropology […]
InfraNorth team members will participate in the 18th EASA Biennial Conference in Barcelona. With the theme “Doing and Undoing with Anthropology,” the event will take place at the University of Barcelona (July 23 – 26, 2024). On Tuesday, July 23, Katrin Schmid will present her paper “Devolution of Desires, or How Food and Transportation Determine […]
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 […]
“We build a railroad and the railroad builds us.” This idea gave title to Olga Povoroznyuk’s talk at the sowi:doc 2023 Awards ceremony of the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (ViDSS). Dr. Povoroznyuk, one of this year’s award winners, talked about her dissertation “Soviet infrastructure in the post-Soviet era? Building a railroad and identity […]
