Mar 27, 2024: Article by Alexandra Meyer and Zdenka Sokolíčková in “Ethnos”
The latest issue of Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology has published the article ‘Melting Worlds’ and ‘Climate Myths’: Diverging Stories of Climate Change in Longyearbyen, an Arctic ‘Frontline Community’ by Alexandra Meyer and Zdenka Sokolíčková.
Climate change is a powerful story in Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard in the high Arctic. While most natural science agrees on accelerating climate change with profound environmental impacts, this article unpacks the multidimensionality of the topic locally.
Meyer and Sokolíčková examine climate change as a discourse, analyzing how the local community receives and reproduces the dominant climate change discourse, and comparing it to other narratives about climate change and adaptation. The authors aim to contribute to the growing field of reception studies in anthropology. They conducted ethnographic fieldwork to gather their data, which includes interviews, informal conversations, and importantly, counter-stories that provide nuances and contest the dominant climate change discourse. The authors point to the over-simplification, sensationalism, and (mis)use of the climate discourse for other purposes. They suggest it is essential to listen to such counter-stories to promote fair, inclusive, and transparent climate change politics.
The article is open-access and can be read online here.
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Aug 29, 2024: Presentation by Philipp Budka at the Churchill Barber Symposium 2024
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 […]
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July 2024: Chapter by Peter Schweitzer in “A Fractured North – Journeys on Hold”
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 […]
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Jul 23, 2024: InfraNorth at EASA 2024 Conference in Barcelona
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 […]
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Jun 20, 2024: Polar Journal Features Research by Katrin Schmid
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 […]
