Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline
The Baikal– Amur Mainline (BAM) project has been the embodiment of (post‐ )Soviet modernisation with its promises of economic prosperity, mobility and connectivity. It boosted regional development and intro-duced new forms of mobility, but also accelerated sedentarisation, assimilation and social po...
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:8284832 2024-09-15T18:05:19+00:00 Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline Povoroznyuk, Olga 2023-08-25 https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 eng eng Zenodo https://zenodo.org/communities/infranorth https://zenodo.org/communities/eu https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 oai:zenodo.org:8284832 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode infrastructure indigeneity Evenki identity Siberia info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2023 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 2024-07-27T01:54:52Z The Baikal– Amur Mainline (BAM) project has been the embodiment of (post‐ )Soviet modernisation with its promises of economic prosperity, mobility and connectivity. It boosted regional development and intro-duced new forms of mobility, but also accelerated sedentarisation, assimilation and social polarisation among Evenki, an indigenous people who had been living in the region long before the arrival of the megaproject. Complex and often ambiguous entanglements of Evenki with the BAM infrastructure – from participation in construction to the exchange of goods to loss of reindeer and land, shaped indigenous ways of life, memories and identities. The master‐ narrative of the BAM seems to have been internalised by many Evenki and to have drowned out critical voices and indigenous identities. In this article, I direct attention to ‘hidden transcripts’, thereby giving voice to underrepresented memories and perspectives on the BAM within Evenki communi-ties. Drawing on ethnographic materials and interviews with indigenous leaders, reindeer herders and village residents, who experienced the arrival of the BAM and have been entangled with the railroad in various ways, I seek to contribute to a critical and comprehensive history of the BAM and to explore the construction and articulation of indigenous identities vis‐ à‐ vis large‐ scale infrastructure and development projects. Article in Journal/Newspaper Evenki Siberia Zenodo Social Anthropology 29 4 1064 1080 |
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language |
English |
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infrastructure indigeneity Evenki identity Siberia |
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infrastructure indigeneity Evenki identity Siberia Povoroznyuk, Olga Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
topic_facet |
infrastructure indigeneity Evenki identity Siberia |
description |
The Baikal– Amur Mainline (BAM) project has been the embodiment of (post‐ )Soviet modernisation with its promises of economic prosperity, mobility and connectivity. It boosted regional development and intro-duced new forms of mobility, but also accelerated sedentarisation, assimilation and social polarisation among Evenki, an indigenous people who had been living in the region long before the arrival of the megaproject. Complex and often ambiguous entanglements of Evenki with the BAM infrastructure – from participation in construction to the exchange of goods to loss of reindeer and land, shaped indigenous ways of life, memories and identities. The master‐ narrative of the BAM seems to have been internalised by many Evenki and to have drowned out critical voices and indigenous identities. In this article, I direct attention to ‘hidden transcripts’, thereby giving voice to underrepresented memories and perspectives on the BAM within Evenki communi-ties. Drawing on ethnographic materials and interviews with indigenous leaders, reindeer herders and village residents, who experienced the arrival of the BAM and have been entangled with the railroad in various ways, I seek to contribute to a critical and comprehensive history of the BAM and to explore the construction and articulation of indigenous identities vis‐ à‐ vis large‐ scale infrastructure and development projects. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Povoroznyuk, Olga |
author_facet |
Povoroznyuk, Olga |
author_sort |
Povoroznyuk, Olga |
title |
Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
title_short |
Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
title_full |
Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
title_fullStr |
Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline |
title_sort |
ambiguous entanglements: infrastructure, memory and identity in indigenous evenki communities along the baikal-amur mainline |
publisher |
Zenodo |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 |
genre |
Evenki Siberia |
genre_facet |
Evenki Siberia |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/infranorth https://zenodo.org/communities/eu https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 oai:zenodo.org:8284832 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032 |
container_title |
Social Anthropology |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1064 |
op_container_end_page |
1080 |
_version_ |
1810442885170987008 |