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 the remnants of past military activities and is located some distance from the regional capital, Tasiilaq. For years, there have been discussions regarding the construction of a new airport in Tasiilaq to improve connectivity and reduce dependence on helicopter flights. Throughout the East Coast, many residents feel that they are looked down upon by the (West) Greenlandic population and are given little priority in the political and economic decisions taking place in the faraway national capital of Nuuk, which feeds into residents’ attitudes towards the ever-suspended airport plans. Many residents place great hope on this plan, as this “infrastructural hope” (Reeves 2017) includes economic and social possibilities and an improvement of the region’s status both within the country and abroad. On the other hand, in the village of Kulusuk, near the current airport, people fear the repercussions of this new airport.

Elixhauser explores the hopes, fears, and affect generated by and embedded within infrastructure, considering issues of remoteness, social and physical connectivity, “infrastructural violence” (Rodgers and O’Neill 2012), and residents’ future imaginaries and historical experiences in (post-)colonial Greenland. Describing the socio-material dynamics of hope and connectivity, the article shows how aviation infrastructure is never just about the physical infrastructure but is always enabled by and embedded in societal processes.

The article can be found online here.

Apr 9, 2025: Community Talk by Philipp Budka in Churchill, Manitoba

On April 9, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM CDT (GMT-5), Philipp Budka will present a talk titled “Navigating Change: How Transport Infrastructure Shapes Life in Churchill” at the Theatre of the Town Centre Complex in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. As part of this community event, the InfraNorth researcher will explore how transport infrastructures both shape […]

Arctic Science Summit Week 2024

Mar 20–28, 2025: InfraNorth at the Arctic Science Summit Week 2025

InfraNorth researchers Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Alexandra Meyer, Ria-Maria Adams, and Susanna Gartler will participate in the Arctic Science Summit Week 2025 (ASSW) from 20 to 28 March 2025 at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. This year’s summit, themed “Arctic Research Planning for the Next Decade,” will include the 4th International Conference on Arctic […]

Feb 21, 2025: Presentation by Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk at the 2025 Barents Spektakel

Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk will participate in the 2025 Barents Spektakel, an annual art and culture festival in Kirkenes, Norway. In its 21st edition, the festival explores the theme “Remote Control,” fostering a cross-disciplinary exchange on the center-periphery model and the dynamics between central areas and peripheral (or remote) regions. On Friday, 21 February, […]