Human and infrastructural connectivity of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation: methodological approaches to research

• Published in: Arctic and Antarctic Research
• Main Authors: N. B. Vakhtin, E. V. Liarskaya, Н. Б. Вахтин, Е. В. Лярская
• Other Authors: The article is written as part of the project № 18-05-60108 which won the grant of the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (“Fundamental Problems of Arctic Research: Natural and social environment”. The research described in the article is currently being done by the Center of Arctic Social Studies, European University at St. Petersburg. The grant application was written, besides the authors of the article, by K. Gavrilova, K. Istomin, E. Kapustina, A. Karaseva, V. Vasilieva and N. Zamiatina, Статья написана в рамках проекта «Арктические связи: люди и инфраструктуры» (грант РФФИ № 18-05-60108), конкурс РФФИ «Фундаментальные проблемы изучения и освоения Российской Арктики: природная и социальная среда». Исследование, описанное в статье, в настоящее время ведется коллективом Центра социальных исследований Севера Европейского университета в Санкт-Петербурге. В подготовке заявки на проект, кроме авторов статьи, участвовали В.В. Васильева, К.А. Гаврилова, Н.Ю. Замятина, К.В. Истомин, Е.Л. Капустина и А.И. Карасева
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Государственный научный центр Российской Федерации Арктический и антарктический научно-исследовательский институт 2019
• Subjects: связанность; infrastructure; life trajectories; migration; Russian Arctic; translocality; жизненные траектории; инфраструктура; миграция; Arctic; Polar Geography; Sibirica; The Polar Journal
• Online Access: https://www.aaresearch.science/jour/article/view/197; https://doi.org/10.30758/0555-2648-2019-65-3-341-352

The aim of the present paper is to introduce to the reader a new project “Arctic Connectivity: People and Infrastructures” (Russian Fund for Fundamental Research grant № 18-05-60108, received within the programme “Fundamental problems of research in the Russian Arctic: natural and social environment”). The three-year research project described in the article began in 2018 and is done by the Centre for Arctic Social Studies (European University, St Petersburg). The approach is based on the central concept of connectivity. The main aim of the research is to study different kinds of connections that make possible movement of people, objects, and information both within the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) and between AZRF and other parts of the country. The research uses holistic approach with its simultaneous and integrated attention to both social ties of the people who live and work in the AZRF and the physical infrastructure (roads and railroads, air and water transport, telecommunication etc.) that supports these ties. Despite the common stereotype, AZRF is not separated from the rest of the country. Multiple ties, both infrastructural and symbolic, unite the region by providing exchange of people, objects, and information between its parts, and link AZRF to the southern parts of the country. The target group of the ongoing research includes both indigenous and non-indigenous population. From the theoretical perspective, the research will help validate a working hypothesis of special importance of connectivity for the Arctic region. The research will help fill gaps in our fragmentary knowledge of the social life of the Arctic. From a practical viewpoint, the project will help plan the development of AZRF more rationally.