Utilizing Extractive Transportation Infrastructures for Subsistence Livelihoods: Experience of Evenki Communities in Eastern Siberia

Vera Kuklina (), Viktoriya Filippova, Natalia Krasnoshtanova, Antonina Savvinova, Viktor Bogdanov and Mariia Kuklina
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Vera Kuklina: Department of Geography and Environment, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
Viktoriya Filippova: The Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, SB RAS, Yakutsk 677027, Russia
Natalia Krasnoshtanova: V B Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, Irkutsk 664033, Russia
Antonina Savvinova: Department of Ecology and Geography, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk 677000, Russia
Viktor Bogdanov: V B Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS, Irkutsk 664033, Russia
Mariia Kuklina: ARCTICenter of Geography Department, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: The availability of natural resources drives the exploration and transformation of remote regions in the Arctic and beyond. Extractive infrastructure is one of the major sources of industrial development and environmental impact on landscapes. For Indigenous people, these landscapes are homely environments full of sentient beings, and for other local communities, they provide a wide variety of subsistence and hunting resources. While extractive infrastructure violence is the evident issue for many Indigenous communities, there are more complicated situations where extractive infrastructure is adopted and utilized for the subsistence and support of other human and more-than-human relations in local and Indigenous communities. Based on materials from interviews and observations with Evenki communities in Eastern Siberia in 2013–2021, the authors discuss the complex relations and sustainability issues entangled around infrastructure objects’ creation, use, maintenance, and transformations. The results demonstrate a wide variety of relations between obshchinas (non-governmental organizations of Indigenous peoples) and extractive companies constructed with infrastructure development of the latter. The paper discusses the shortcomings of the top-down approach in infrastructure planning and the need for contextualization and meaningful engagement with affected communities, some examples of which have already taken place in specific locales. The study concludes by calling for the support of environmentally and socially just infrastructure defined by Indigenous people and local communities as a way to increase sustainability.

Keywords: infrastructure; Indigenous communities; Evenki; Sakha; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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