Research Focus Areas

Short Biography

Dr. Olga Povoroznyuk is a PostDoc Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna. Her research interests include the issues of infrastructure and development, identity, ethnicity and indigeneity, postsocialism, climate and environmental changes in the Circumpolar North and beyond. Her previous research and a Ph.D. dissertation defended at the University of Vienna, were devoted to the role of large-scale infrastructures in the articulation of modernization and nation-building projects in Post-Soviet Siberia (https://core.univie.ac.at/team/olga-povoroznyuk/). Currently, she works as a research coordinator and a study region lead in the ERC project “InfraNorth” and focuses on the role of maritime and other transport infrastructure in social dynamics and sustainability of coastal communities in Northeast Siberia, Northern Norway and Alaska.

Olga Povoroznyuk is also a member of the Social and Human Working Group and a co-lead of RATIC research initiative on infrastructure within the International Arctic Science Committee and a researcher at the Austrian Polar Research Institute. She teaches social anthropology and is visible at international scientific conferences.

Full CV as PDF

Selected Publications

Books, edited volumes and issues

2020 (2021) Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk, Stephany MacCallum, eds. Special section “Precarious Connections: On the Promise and Menace of Railroad Projects”. Transfers 10 (2/3): 137-282 https://doi.org/10.3167/TRANS.2020.10020311

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk, Peter Schweitzer, and Vladimir Davydov, eds. Special issue "Sotsial’naia Zhizn’ Transportnykh Infrastruktur na Rossiskom Severe" [Social Life of Transport Infrastructures in the Russian North]. Sibirskie Istoricheskie Issledovaniia 3: 8-102 http://journals.tsu.ru/siberia/&journal_page=archive&id=2012

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk and Ilya Krylov, eds. Zhizn’ BAMa [Life of BAM]. Vienna, Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1113516

2016 Olga Povoroznyuk and Dmitrii Funk, eds. Special issue “Urbanizatsiya i Korennye Narody Zirkumpoliarnogo Severa [Urbanization and Indigenous Peoples of the Circumpolar North. Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie, 1: 5-70

2011  Olga Povoroznyuk. Zabaikal’skie evenki: sotsial’no-ekonomicheskie i kul’turnye transformatsii [Evenki of Zabaikal’skii Region: Socio-Economic and Cultural Transformation in XX-XXI Centuries]. Moscow: Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS http://iea-ras.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=67

2010 Otto Habeck, Olga Povoroznyuk and Virginie Vate, ed. Special issue “Gender Shift in the North of Russia”. Anthropology of East Europe Review, 28 (2): 1-270 https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/issue/view/79

Selected articles/chapters

2022 Olga Povoroznyuk, W.F. Vincent, P. Schweitzer, R. Laptander, M. Bennett, F. Calmels, D. Sergeev, C. Arp, B. Forbes and D. A. Walker. Arctic Roads and Railways: Social and Environmental Consequences of Transport Infrastructure in the Circumpolar North. Arctic Science: 1-34 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/as-2021-0033

2022 Schweitzer, Peter and Olga Povoroznyuk. Infrastructural Legacies and Post-Soviet Transformations in Northern Sakha (Yakutiya), Russia. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning: 1-12 https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2022.2051455

2022 Sancho-Reinoso, A., G. Saxinger, C. Fink, O. Povoroznyuk, S. I. Wentzel, G. Illmeier, P. Schweitzer, N. Krasnoshtanova and V. Kuklina. Mapping Hierarchies of Mobility in the Baikal Amur Mainline Region: a Quantitative Account of Needs and Expectations Relating to Railroad Usage. Polar Geography: 1-20 https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2022.2046195

2021 Olga Povoroznyuk. Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, Memory and Identity in Indigenous Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Social Anthropology: 29 (2): 1-17 https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.13032

2020 (2021) Olga Povoroznyuk. (Re)Constructing the Baikal-Amur Mainline: Continuity and Change of Post-Socialist Infrastructure. Transfers: 10 (2/3): 250-269 https://doi.org/10.3167/TRANS.2020.10020317

2020 (2021) Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk. Introduction to the special section “Precarious Connections: On the Promise and Menace of Railroad Projects”. Transfers: 10 (2/3): 137-151 https://doi.org/10.3167/TRANS.2020.10020311

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk. (Post)Sovetskaia Infrastruktura: Politika Pamiati, Identichnosti i Emotsii na BAMe [(Post)Soviet Infrastructure: Politics of Memory, Identity and Emotions along the BAM]. Sibirskie Istoricheckie Issledovaniia, 2020 (3): 32-47 http://journals.tsu.ru/siberia/en/&journal_page=archive&id=2012&article_id=45509

2020  P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk and V. Davydov. "Vvedenie: Osobennosti Funktsionirovaniia i Antropologicheskikh Issledovanii Transportnykh Infrastruktur na Severe [Introduction: Peculiarities of Operation of and Anthropological Research on Transport Infrastructures in the North]." Sibirskie Istoricheskie Issledovaniia 3: 8-18 http://journals.tsu.ru/siberia/en/&journal_page=archive&id=2012&article_id=45507

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk. Sotsial'naya Dinamika na BAMe [Social Dynamics along the BAM]. In Zhizn' BAMa. O. Povoroznyuk and I. Krylov, eds. Pp. 12-17. Vienna: Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1113516

2020  Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk. O Poselke, Kotoromu ne Nuzhen Most: Sluchai Ust'-Niukzhi [The Village that Doesn’t Need a Bridge: the Case of Ust’-Niukzha]. In Zhizn' BAMa. O. Povoroznyuk and I. Krylov, eds. Pp. 51-56. Vienna: Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien. https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1113516

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk. Vtoroi BAM i Perspektivy Razvitiia [The Second BAM and the Prospects for Development]. In Zhizn' BAMa. O. Povoroznyuk and I. Krylov, eds. Pp. 62-67. Vienna: Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1113516

2020  Olga Povoroznyuk and Peter Schweitzer. Epilog: Studenty na BAMe i Chto Budet posle CoRe [Epilogue: Students along the BAM and What Comes after CoRe]. In Zhizn' BAMa. O. Povoroznyuk and I. Krylov, eds. Pp. 68-70. Vienna: Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie der Universität Wien https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1113516

2019  Olga Povoroznyuk. The Baikal-Amur Mainline: Memories and Emotions of a Socialist Construction Project. Sibirica, Vol. 18 (1): 22-52 https://doi.org/10.3167/sib.2019.180103

2019  Peter Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk. 2019. A Right to Remoteness? A Missing Bridge and Articulations of Indigeneity Along an East Siberian Railroad. Social Anthropology 27(2): 236-252. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8676.12648

2019  Vera Kuklina, Olga Povoroznyuk and Gertrude Saxinger. Power of Rhythms – Trains and Work along the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) in Siberia. Polar Geography 42 (1): 18-33 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1088937X.2018.1564395

2017  Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk and Sigrid Schiesser. Beyond Wilderness: Towards an Anthropology of Infrastructure and the Built Environment in the Russian North.  Polar Anthropology, 7 (1): 58-85
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2154896X.2017.1334427

2017  Olga Povoroznyuk. Social Dynamics and Sustainability of BAM Communities: Migration, Competition for Resources, and Intergroup Relations. In New Mobilities and Social Changes in Russia’s Arctic Regions. Marlene Laruelle, ed. Pp. 133-157. London and New York: Routledge

2016  Olga Povoroznyuk. “Gorodskie Aborigeny” BAMa: Industrial’nyi Bum, Technosotsial’nye Seti i Bor’ba za Resursy [“Urban Aboriginals” of the BAM Region: Industrial Boom, Technosocial Networks and Competition for Resources]. In Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie 1: 23-41

2015  A. Sirina, V. Davydov, O. Povoroznyuk and V. Simonova. S.M. Shirokogoroff’s book ‘Sociаl Organization of the Northern Tungus’ and its Russian Translation: History, Structure, Interpretations. Asian Ethnicity 17 (1): 30- 46
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2015.1086088

2014  Olga Povoroznyuk. Belonging to Land in Tura: Migrations, Reforms, and Identity Politics in Evenkiia. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics 8 (2): 33-51
http://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/159/pdf_122

2010    Olga Povoroznyuk, Joachim Otto Habeck, and Virginie Vate. Introduction: On the Definition, Theory, and Practice of Gender Shift in the North of Russia. The Anthropology of East Europe Review 28(2): 1-37 https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/article/view/929/1037

All Publications in u:cris

Current and Recent Research Projects

•  “INFRANORTH: Building Arctic Futures: Transport Infrastructures and Sustainable Northern Communities”, ERC advanced grant project, Research Coordinator and Study Region Lead (2021-2025) https://infranorth.eu/
• “Nunataryuk”: Permafrost Thaw and the Changing Arctic Coast, Science for Socioeconomic Adaptation”, WP9 “Mitigation and Adaptation”, EU Horizon 2020 project, PostDoc Researcher (2017-2023) https://nunataryuk.org/about-us
• “Informal Roads: The Impact of Undocumented Transportation Pathways on Remote Communities of Siberia”, NSF project, Research Advisor (2019-2023) https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1748092&HistoricalAwards=false
• “Configurations of Remoteness (CoRe): Entanglements of Humans and Transportation Infrastructure in the Region of Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM)”, Austrian Science Fund FWF project, Component Leader and PostDoc Researcher (2015-2020) https://core.univie.ac.at/

Conferences

Panels and workshops, 2018-2022

• P. Schweitzer and O. Povoroznyuk. Arctic Transport Infrastructures and Sustainable Communities. Arctic Circle, Reykjavik, October 15, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk and P. Schweitzer. Infrastructure and Built Environment in the Anthropocene. Vienna Anthropology Days, Vienna, September 28, 2022
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk. What is the Future of Anthropological Collaboration with Russia? Vienna Anthropology Days, September 27, 2022
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk. Workshop „Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Advancing Sustainable Arctic Infrastructure” at Arctic Science Summit Week, Tromso, March 26, 2022
• M. Bennett, P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk. Undermining the Earth? Infrastructural challenges to sustainability at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, online, February 25, 2022
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk, T. Heleniak. Conference “The Global Economics and Geopolitics of Arctic Transport Infrastructures”. InfraNorth project workshop, University of Vienna, Vienna and online, September 23-24, 2021
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk, G. Saxinger, S. Wentzel, G. Illmeier, A. Sancho-Reinoso. The Promise of Arctic Infrastructural Development: Connectivity, Mobility, Prosperity. X International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, online, June 15 and 20, 2021
• J. Pierce, S. Walker, P. Schweitzer and Olga Povoroznyuk. IASC RATIC/T-MOSAiC Workshop “Sharing Best Practices in Research on Infrastructure in the Arctic”, Arctic Science Summit Week, online, March 21, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk, W. Vincent and F. Camels. Special session “Northern Roads and Railways: Social and Environmental Effects of Northern Transport Infrastructure”, Arctic Science Summit Week, online, March 25, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk, W. Vincent and F. Camels. Special session “Roads and Rail: Social and Environmental Effects of Northern Transport Infrastructure” at the Arctic Change conference, online, December 8, 2020
• O. Povoroznyuk and A. Meyer. Co-chairing session "Changing Cryospheres I: Global Warming in Polar and Alpine Settings" at the Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) conference, Vienna/online, September 30, 2020
• O. Povoroznyuk and P. Schweitzer. Transportation infrastructures in the system of communications in the North. Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologist of Russia, Kazan’, July 3, 2019
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk and S. MacCallum. Revisiting railroads: sociality, mobility and infrastructure in remote regions. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, November 18, 2018
• O. Povoroznyuk, P. Schweitzer and G. Saxinger. Human Entanglements with Infrastructures: Mobility, Sociality, and the Built Environment. Vienna Anthropology Days, September 21, 2018
• P. Schweitzer, O. Povoroznyuk and S. MacCallum. Revisiting railroads: sociality, mobility and infrastructure in remote regions. Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, Stockholm, August 15, 2018

Selected presentations/talks/guest lectures, 2018-2022

• O. Povoroznyuk. The Northern Sea Route and Arctic Coastal Communities. Arctic Circle, Reykjavik, October 15, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Transformative Infrastructure: Engineering a Railroad and Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline in East Siberia. Vienna Anthropology Days, Vienna, September 28, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Transformative Infrastructure and Modernization: Building a Railroad and Identity along the Baikal-Amur Mainline in East Siberia. European Anthropological Association 17^th Biannual Conference, online, July 28, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Infrastructural Legacies, Environmental Change, and Post-Soviet Transformations in Northern Sakha (Yakutiya), Russia. Nunataryuk General Assembly Meeting, Sesimbra, May 17, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Ignoring Climate Change? Modernization Ideologies, Socio-Economic Concerns and Perceptions of the Environment in Northern Sakha (Yakutiya), Russia. Experiencing Climate Change in Europe and Beyond, Ljubljana, May 5, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Transport Infrastructures and Transformations of the Russian North. Conference of British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies. Online, April 9, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. Disseminating Research on Arctic Infrastructure: from CoRe to InfraNorth. Arctic Science Summit Week. Tromso, March 28, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk. From the Front Lines of Supply to the Margins of the State: Reimagining Infrastructure of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Association of American Geographers Conference, online, February, 25, 2022
• O. Povoroznyuk and P. Schweitzer. Social and Cultural Dimensions of Transport Infrastructures in the North (examples from CoRe, Nunataryk and InfraNorth). Aalborg University Research Seminar, online, December 3, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Anthropology of Infrastructure in Siberia and the North. ASEEES Convention, New Orleans, USA, November 22, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Transport infrastructures in territorial and resource exploration of the Russian North. XIV Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia online, July 8, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Ambiguous entanglements: infrastructure and indigeneity in Evenki Communities along the Baikal-Amur Mainline. X International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, online, June 15, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Social and Cultural Dimensions of Transport Infrastructures in the North:
  Towards Community-Based Research, invited talk at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, May 6, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Roads and railroads of the Russian North: social and cultural dimensions of infrastructure projects, Arctic Science Summit Week, online, March 25, 2021
• O. Povoroznyuk. Permafrost Thaw, Infrastructure and Community Development:
  navigating socio-economic and environmental change in
  Northern Yakutia, Russia, talk at the IASC RATIC seminar series, online, February 18, 2021.
• O. Povoroznyuk. The Social Impacts of Road and Railroad Projects: Cases from the Russian North, Arctic Change conference, online, December 8, 2020
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Hydrosocial Change in Tiksi, Northern Russia:  Melting Permafrost and Community Development. Paper at 16^th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, online, July 21, 2020
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Between socio-economic and climate change: transportation infrastructures and development in Tiksi, Northern Russia. Artic Frontiers conference, Tromso, January 29, 2020
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Ambiguous Entanglements: Infrastructure, (Im)mobility and Indigeneity along Baikal-Amur Mainline. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Vancouver, November 23, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Re-Constructing the Baikal-Amur Mainline: Imaginaries, Ideologies and Affects of the Socialist Megaproject. Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, San-Francisco November 25, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. “Sustainable Development” and Indigenous Peoples (Case of the BAM, Siberia). Conference of the German Society for Social and Cultural Anthropology. Konstanz, Germany, September 30, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Postsocialist Infrastructure: Identity Building and the Politics of Emotion along the Baikal-Amur Mainline, East Siberia. Guest lecture at the Historical Department, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, June 16, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Reconstructing the BAM: Memory, Identity and Politics of Emotions (in Russian). Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologist of Russia, Kazan’, July 3, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Postsocialist Infrastructure: Memories, Identities, and Politics of Emotion along the Baikal-Amur Mainline (in Russian). Guest lecture at the Department of Ethnology, Moscow State University, February 25, 2019
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Reconstructing the Baikal-Amur Mainline: Materiality and Affect of the Postsocialist Railroad. Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, November 18, 2018
• Olga Povoroznyuk. (Re)Constructing the BAM: Affective Networks of the (Post)Socialist Infrastructure. Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, Stockholm, August 15, 2018
• Olga Povoroznyuk. Living Along the Baikal-Amur Mainline: Resources, Social Change and (Im)Mobility Among Indigenous (Evenki) People. International symposium “On Land, Water and Ice: Indigenous Societies in the Changing Arctic”, Sapporo, Japan, July 5, 2018