Jul 2024: Article by Elena Davydova in “Mobility Humanities”

The latest issue of Mobility Humanities (Vol. 3, No. 2, July 2024) features the article “How to Board an Aircraft in Chukotka” by Elena Davydova. This special issue was guest-edited by Michael Anranter and Manuel Moser.

Based on ethnography of airports in Eastern Arctic Russia (Chukotka), the article examines institutionalized practices of active waiting prior to the boarding of an aircraft, called the podsadka. On the one hand, a distinct feature of Russian Arctic aviation is its unpredictability. Delays, cancellations of flights, and persistent waiting by passengers are an inevitable part of the everyday life of airports in Chukotka. On the other hand, even in remote places of the Russian North, airports are spaces of heightened control. The article argues that the disjuncture between the rigidity of airports and the flexibility of people creates a podsadka game among passengers and contributes to its “hunting” / “active” peculiarities. The article begins with a comparison of passenger and air carrier perspectives, which are termed “lucky” and “efficient” mobilities, respectively. It expands on this theme by considering airports as spaces for displays of diverse airport regulations and passenger intentions. Finally, it focuses on specific traits of Chukotkan mobility that include overcoming multiple queues and waiting, revealing the strategies applied by local people to be lucky in their travels.

The article is open-access and can be read online here.

Sep 30, 2024: Article by Alexis Sancho-Reinoso and Tim Heleniak in “Island Studies Journal”

Island Studies Journal has recently published several early-access papers prior to assignment to an issue, including the article “Turning the Faroes into One City. Demographic and Spatial Impacts of 60 Years of Transport Infrastructure Expansion,” by Alexis Sancho-Reinoso and Timothy Heleniak. Over the last six decades, the Faroe Islands, an 18-island archipelago in the North […]

Photo by Alexandra Meyer.

Sep 30, 2024: Call for Abstracts on “The Challenges of Arctic Infrastructure” for the ICARP IV Summit

The call for abstracts for the 4th International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV) taking place on 25-28 March 2025 in Boulder, Colorado (USA) as part of the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is now open until 30 September 2024. InfraNorth team members Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, and Alexandra Meyer, together with Vera Kuklina (George Washington University) […]

Sep 2024: Article in “Études Inuit Studies” by Sophie Elixhauser

The latest issue of Études Inuit Studies (Vol. 47, No. 1-2, September 2024) features the article “Making and Unmaking Airports in Tunu (East Greenland): The Socio-Material Dynamics of Hope and Connectivity” by Sophie Elixhauser. Like many airports throughout the Arctic, Kulusuk Airport, the entrance to the sparsely populated East Coast of Greenland, is built on […]

Sep 16, 2024: Presentations by Peter Schweitzer and Ria-Maria Adams at the 29th International Polar Conference

InfraNorth members Peter Schweitzer and Ria-Maria Adams will be presenting at the 29th International Polar Conference, co-organized by the Austrian Polar Research Institute (APRI) and the German Society of Polar Research (DGP). This year’s conference will be held in Rauris, Austria, from September 16 – 20, under the motto “Dynamic Poles and High Mountain Environments.” […]

Announcement of the InfraNorth Workshop “Ethnography Beyond the Case Study: Possibilities and Limitations of Comparison”

Sep 10, 2024: InfraNorth Workshop “Ethnography Beyond the Case Study: Possibilities and Limitations of Comparison”

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 […]