Off-the-Grid Life of Arctic Nomads: Social Generating of Electricity in the Northern Yamal

In: Žurnal Sibirskogo Federal'nogo Universiteta: Journal of Siberian Federal University. Gumanitarnye nauki = Humanities & social sciences, S. 1356-1373

Abstract

This article deals with the ethnographic analysis of the history and social life of electricity among Nenets in the Yamal Peninsula. Based on historical documents and field data the author reconstructs a history of the electrification of the northern part of the peninsula. This work also includes the reflections on social and cultural meanings of electricity among Nenets in and out the tundra. Through these historical and current dynamics, the author suggests analysing the life of electricity in off-the-grid settings through the lens of transnational technological entanglements in the Arctic