We all know that the current situation with Russia and Ukraine is rapidly changing a lot of the ways and values on which we have been relying in the past decades for our everyday lives. But recently I was surprised when discussing the impacts with Karoliina Majuri, a reindeer herder and colleague here at Lapland …
Continue reading The influence of world politics in the forest of Northern Lapland
Many of you may have heard about the resistance of Sámi people against the Alta-Kautokeino hydroelectric dam in the 1970s-1980s. Even though the dam was built, the Sámi resistance including hunger strikes was hugely influential not only for indigenous rights movement among the Sámi, but also worldwide. In a way we can trace the impact …
Continue reading Indigenous People against industry: theatre performance
First of all, happy new year to all our readers, followers, and a big thank you to all those who contribute to making this blog a success. This is my first ever new years trip to the Russian Arctic. Flying from Finland to Yamal, one of the first visible impressions is the extensive use of …
So-called 'ghost towns' attract people in a certain sense, the ailing beauty of their ruins and the atmosphere of silence that is so different from the silence that you experience when you are somewhere out on the tundra in the Arctic in a snow-desert. But when I recently walked with a friend through an abandoned …
Continue reading Spirituality of abandoned Arctic Infrastructure
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bse.2698 This has been a long journey and a lot of work several years: jointly with a number of interdisciplinary colleagues, we published our article on the ranking of Arctic extractive industries in terms of environmental responsibility. We might think "how is this related to Arctic Anthropology?", but it actually is a lot, both because …
Continue reading The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index – oil and gas better than mining?
Talking to a friend in Se Yakha, at the shore of the Ob Bay close to the Kara Sea, I realised how far the consequences of the recent Norilsk oil spill could go: the recent New York Times article about the oil spill cite environmentalists and even a Russian minister saying that the consequences of …
Continue reading Permafrost thaw responsible for Norilsk oil spill, impacting indigenous fishing?
Our colleagues Gunhild Hoogensen Gjorv with Marc Lanteigne launched the Routledge Handbook of Arctic Security, of which they are the main editors, and where there are some chapters relevant for (and co-authored by) us. Gunhild said that the starting point for their approach to security is much broader than just hard dominant state approaches to …
These were the introductory words of Alexandr Ivanov, the head of the Olenek district in Yakutia, in his discussion during our session on indigenous people's territorial governance under industrial development at the Northern Forum for sustainable development in Yakutsk, 25 - 26 September 2019 (full session programme). He thought it is useful to remind researchers …
Last week, the mid-term meeting of our research project on youth in Arctic industrial settlements (WOLLIE) took place in Kirovsk and Revda, two mono-industrial cities in the Murmansk Region, North-West Russia. While discussing our project goals and achievements so far, we also visited several places. Being highly industrialised, densely populated and relatively compact, the Murmansk …
Continue reading Arctic youth well-being reserach project WOLLIE goes to Kola Peninsula
The University of Oulu is strengthening their Arctic profile and have announced several jobs. Let's hope they will hire anthropologists eagerly! It depends on how many good anthropologists will apply, so, dear colleagues - go for it! Tenure Track Positions in Arctic Interactions Research, University of Oulu, Finland Are you the new generation of premier …
Continue reading Job for Arctic Anthropologists in Europe? Oulu
Arctic Anthropology 