Conquering nature and engaging with the environment in the Russian industrialised north

This dissertation explores perceptions of the environment and practices of interaction with natural environments at the Northern periphery of the Soviet Union/Russia as well as concepts of nature characteristic for the official Soviet discourse. In order to extract the rich natural resources of the North, numerous new industrial towns were founded from the ground up in areas with no previous permanent human settlements and were populated by migrants from all over the Soviet Union. The Soviet authorities motivated people to go to the North by material benefits but also by an intense ideological campaign with a rhetoric of ‘conquering nature’ and ‘mastering the North’. In this thesis, I argue that for an understanding of human-environment relations in the Russian industrialised Arctic, we need to combine two different analytical angles: the Soviet dominant discourse on nature and its transformation over time on one hand, and the lived experience of the implementers of Soviet industrialisation and their engagement with the natural world on the other hand. Therefore, I examine how people who were on the State’s mission to ‘master the North and nature’ came to feel a strong emotional attachment to and love for the Northern environments. Based on empirical materials from three industrial towns in the Murmansk region, I analyse how new Northerners combined both their involvement in the extractive approach to natural resources and their lived experience of dwelling in Northern environments. In the existing scope of social science scholarship on non-indigenous residents of the Russian North, studies of people’s engagement with the natural environment are usually separated from studies of the State’s strategies and discourses of nature. This study focuses on the so far understudied relations of the urban population of the Russian Arctic to their environment.This thesis bridges these gaps by innovatively combining the concept of ‘discourses of nature’(Macnaghten 1999) with the building and dwelling perspectives suggested by Tim Ingold (Ingold 2000), in analysing the dominant discourse on nature in the USSR and engagements with the natural environment of people working for extractive industries

Colonization of nature in the Soviet Union: state ideology, public discourse, and the experience of geologists

Der Beitrag vereint zwei Perspektiven auf die Geschichte der Geologie in der Sowjetunion. Die sowjetische Politik hat nicht nur die Profession der Geologen aus einer intellektuellen Randgruppe in ein blühendes Feld angewandter Wissenschaft verwandelt. Die staatliche Ideologie feierte die Kolonisierung der Natur durch die Geologen, die auf eine Stufe mit Kosmonauten und Piloten gestellt wurden. Der herrschende Diskurs definierte Natur als bedeutungslos, solange sie nicht für die Bedürfnisse des Menschen ausgebeutet wurde. Die Alltagserfahrungen der Geologen sahen jedoch anders aus. Nach einem monatelangen Aufenthalt in der natürlichen Umwelt machte die offizielle Doktrin anderen Perspektiven Platz: Beschwernisse und Hunger, unerwartete Begegnungen mit Mensch und Tier, die Suche nach Entdeckungen allen Schwierigkeiten zum Trotz. Geologen genossen die Natur auch als sichtbare Harmonie und fanden sogar eine kleine Nische der Freiheit in der Natur, wenn die Verhaltensregeln der Taiga, Freundschaft und Gastlichkeit, für eine ehrliche Atmosphäre rund um das Lagerfeuer sorgten. Für die sowjetischen Geologen war die Natur nicht einfach die Schatzkammer, die die offizielle Rhetorik beschwor, sondern auch ein Archipel der Freiheit. (ICEÜbers)'This article combines two perspectives on the history of geology in the Soviet Union. Soviet policy not only transformed the geological profession from a marginal group of intellectuals into a booming field of applied science. State ideology also celebrated the geologists' colonization of nature, putting them on a par with cosmonauts and pilots. The hegemonic discourse defined nature as meaningless unless it was exploited for human needs. However, the geologists' everyday experiences looked remarkably different. During month-long stays in the natural environment, the official doctrine gave way to other perspectives: hardships and starvation, unexpected encounters with men and beasts, and the quest for discoveries in spite of all difficulties. Geologists also enjoyed nature as visual harmony, and even found a small corner of freedom in nature as the 'taiga laws' of behavior, friendship, and hospitality made for an honest atmosphere around the campfire. For Soviet geologists, nature was not simply the 'house of treasures' that official rhetoric cherished but also an archipelago of freedom.' (author's abstract

Liveability under shrinkage:initiatives in the ‘capital of pessimism’ in Finland

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This article focuses on local initiatives and the agency of residents in the shrinking town of Puolanka in northern Finland. Structural opportunities and constraints shape individual and collective agency in the community, as they steer how people create and develop initiatives. We discuss how local initiatives impact the sense of place among those who would like to stay in their rural hometown. A group of local activists facetiously market Puolanka as the ‘most pessimistic town’ in the world, turning shrinkange, decay, and pessimism into the town's brand. Beyond the pessimism brand several other initiatives, which are either created by engaged local residents or are municipality-led, are revitalizing and enhancing the liveability of Puolanka. By applying ethnographic research methods, we aim to show how initiatives improve the well-being and contribute to the place perception of residents. Such initiatives create jobs, albeit usually in small numbers, improve the physical space, stabilize the sense of community and can bring hope to a place characterized by increasing abandonment, decay, and the loss of local services.Peer reviewe

Psychomotor Training of the Military Sappers as a Means of Reducing Personal Fears and Anxiety

The purpose of this study is to reveal the features of psychomotor training of a sapper, the development of the necessary sensory-intuitive skills to regulate their actions and deeds while performing tasks in the minefield. Material and methods. Three series of psychological experiments were conducted. The importance of psychomotor training in the context of reducing the level of anxiety and personal fears of sappers was revealed. The research was integrated into the process of training in the discipline “Blasting”. The study did not change the structure of the discipline, as it was only related to the content. The collected and analyzed data were used for the quantitative method. Results. It was determined that the most talented servicemen, with well-developed coordination of movements, mental stability, ability to regulate personal fears, make quick decisions, work alone for a long time, stay calm in tense situations, should be involved in the sappers’ activities. Conclusions. Our psychological training “Minefield” promotes the development of professionally necessary qualities among military sappers, provides the development of psychomotor and sensory-intuitive skills to regulate movements and actions during combat missions. Improves constructive attitudes in the unit of sappers, friendliness, reflexive listening, kindness, leadership and patience.</p

Leaving or staying?: Youth agency and the liveability of industrial towns in the Russian Arctic

Many young people finishing schools in mining towns in the Russian Arctic express their desire to escape from their hometowns. I examine historical roots and current reasons for the “orientation toward leaving” which is common among the young generation. However, the focus of this chapter is on those young adults who have stayed in the North. I explore how they find their ways, experience control in their life and exercise personal agency in the particular structural conditions of northern single-industry towns. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the Murmansk region, I analyse the migratory decisions, life choices and agency of stayers and returners. Staying also requires agency, though the perception of this situation can vary significantly depending on the degree of (in)voluntariness. This in-depth qualitative perspective on young people staying in northern industrial cities enriches the current research dominated by scholarship on outmigration from the North.Peer reviewe