Workshop at the Conference of the German Association of Anthropologists / DGV Tagung
Workshop of the Working Group (RG) Circumpolar Regions and Siberia
DGV Tagung / Conference of the German Association of Anthropologists
4.-7.10.2017 in Berlin
Change, conformity and practices of resistance in the “cold world”
WORKSHOP LANGUAGE - ENGLISH
Piers Vitebsky: Keynote
Patrizia Isabelle Duda: Transnational Informal Networks and Paradiplomacy as a Tool of Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Response (DRR&R) in the Face of Arctic Disasters
Tatiana Vagramenko: Postsocialist Religious Changes and Ritual Resistance in the Nenets Tundra
Anton Zhigunov: North business: changes of the Arctic economic prospect perceptions in the media-concept analysis
Olga Povoroznyuk: Baikal-Amur Mainline: remembering socialist construction
Stephan Dudeck, Joachim Otto Habeck: The only gay in the village? Queer intersections in Sápmi and Siberia
Gertrude Saxinger, Susanna Gartler: The FIFO and Mobile Workers Guide – introducing early career miners into the sector
Arctic and subarctic societies have been going through fundamental social and cultural transformations throughout the last centuries. Colonialism, state encroachment, new spatial orders, economic development and imported technologies heavily affected circumpolar societies, but similarly created opportunities for alternate forms of belonging and identity. Cultural change produced a diversity of novel everyday practices that enmeshed indigenous as well as non-indigenous (newcomers) people of the North in trans-regional and international networks.
This workshop invites to think about historic and contemporary cases, where socio-economic, infrastructural and cultural transformations evoked multiple forms of belonging in the interconnected and complex landscape of collective political and cultural identities. We aim to provide a thematically broad insight into the social realities of circumpolar societies, to theoretically address trans-regional commonalities and differences in the North.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to: colonial legacy, regional development, infrastructural change, informal networks, gender, art and cultural revitalization, indigenous and industrial economies, human-environment interaction, multiple identities, and global interconnections.
Wandel, Konformität und widerständige Praxis in der „kalten Welt“
Die Gesellschaften der arktischen und subarktischen Gebiete sowie Sibiriens durchlebten über die letzten Jahrhunderte massive soziale und kulturelle Veränderungen durch Kolonisierung, „südliche“ Herrschaftsansprüche und Staatenbildung, aber auch durch neue räumliche Ordnungen, wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen und neuen Technologien. Auch neue Zugehörigkeiten wurden geschaffen. Kultu-reller Wandel brachte höchst diversifizierte Formen von Identitäts- und Hand-lungspraxen hervor. Ebenso wie schon in frühen „Erschließungs“-Phasen sind in-digene und nicht indigene BewohnerInnen der nördlichen Gebiete heute in über-regionale und globale Netzwerke eingebunden. Der Workshop der „Regionalgrup-pe Zirkumpolargebiete und Sibirien“ unternimmt den Versuch, einerseits histori-sche und andererseits rezente Beispiele von sozialen, ökonomischen, kulturellen und infrastrukturellen Veränderungen durch multiple Zugehörigkeiten in politi-schem und kulturellem Sinne sowie im Kontext von individuellen und kollektiven Identitäten zu vereinen. Damit soll ein Überblick über die mannigfaltigen thema-tischen und sozialen Wirklichkeiten in dieser Region ermöglicht werden und der theoretische Versuch unternommen werden, überregionale Trends sowie regiona-le Diversitäten auszumachen. Die Beiträge reichen von Themen wie kolonialem Erbe, Regionalentwicklung, Infrastruktur, Mobilität, informelle Netzwerke, Gen-der, Kunstschaffen, kulturelle Revitalisierungsprozesse, ökonomische indigene und industrielle Praktiken und ihren Verschränkungen, Mensch-Umweltbeziehungen, multiple Identitäten bis hin zu Themen von (Wechsel-)Wirkungen globaler Prozesse auf moralische und politische Praxen, die das all-gemeine Konferenzthema aufgreifen.
Kontakt
dgv-zirkumpolar-sibirien.jimdo.com
Gertrude Saxinger, Gertrude.Saxinger@univie.ac.at
Otto Habeck, otto.habeck@uni-hamburg.de
Tobias Holzlehner tobias.holzlehner@ethnologie.uni-halle.de
Verena Traeger, Verena.Traeger@univie.ac.at
The DGSKA RG Circumpolar Regions and Siberia hosts the following workshop at the DGSKA conference in Cologne. Submit your abstract until 15 January 2025
P014: Changing practices of commoning and egalitarian relations in the Arctic and Siberia: New forms of governance and social activism
Hosts: Sophie Elixhauser, Otto Habeck, Gertrude Saxinger
Format: in-person only (no option for hybrid or online participation)
Arctic societies’ legacy of egalitarian relations and commoning has been impacted by colonial governance. We explore new practices of commoning in line with self-determination, cultural revitalisation, and environmental justice. We ask how ideas of egalitarianism inform current modes of activism.
Long Abstract:
Practices of commoning and egalitarian relations in the Arctic and Siberia have changed significantly over time. Both concepts emphasise shared responsibility, collective decision-making, and equality. In pre-colonial societies, commoning practices involved the shared use, management and control of resources. Egalitarian relations were manifested in minimal social hierarchies, flexible gender roles, relatively equal distribution of power, and respect for the autonomy of each person (human and non-human). However, the image of all northern societies as egalitarian has also been challenged, so the concept of egalitarianism may require a reassessment. With the arrival of colonial powers, new social, economic, and legal frameworks were imposed that often conflicted with Indigenous ways of life: the introduction of private property, centralised resource management, hierarchical governance, and rigid gender norms. Today, many groups in the Arctic and Siberia are working to revive commoning practices. These resonate with broader movements for self-determination, cultural revitalisation, and environmental justice. New such practices have also emerged, including forms of self-governance or self-reliance projects involving young people and aimed at alleviating social problems. Relevant questions are:
- To what extent do current political and social systems incorporate, or are willing to incorporate egalitarian values?
- What new forms of commoning and egalitarian relations are emerging?
- How do practices and discourses of commoning and egalitarian values differ across generations, genders, and different forms of social and economic organisation?
- How are people in the North re-imagining their respective histories? How does this influence current approaches to governance and activism?
How to submit your abstract:
Paper proposals must consist of a paper title, the name(s) and email address(es) of author(s), a short abstract of less than 300 characters and a long abstract of less than 250 words.
Please note: All proposals must be submitted via the online form in the panel list, not by email. Please visit the “Panel List” and scroll down to our workshop P014. There is a ‘propose’ link below the long abstract of the panel page and also next to the title of the panel. Click on the proposal link to submit your proposal directly to our panel.
The conference is in-person only (no option for hybrid or online participation)