Thinking Through Permafrost

Sciences Po Conference organized by: Sabine Dullin (Sciences Po  CHSP) and Anastasiya Halauniova (Sciences Po CSO, Bruno Latour Fund).

Today, permafrost undergoes a remarkable revival. Journalists, scientists, citizens, and politicians­everyone appears to be invested in  preventing the deterioration of this Arctic ground.

What unites these emerging accounts of permafrost is an acknowledgement of its 'sudden' global visibility. One gets the impression that permafrost has not been a matter of concern up until very recently. But where was permafrost before?

ln this hybrid workshop, we will explore alternative ways to think through permafrost that engage with its multiple essences-an environ mental object, a livelihood, an infrastructure, a scientific matter-that have been evident and meaningful for some peoples for centuries.

Our goal is to contribute to an understanding of permafrost that moves beyond recognizing it as a mere surface or a hazard. Indeed, what is permafrost in the actual practices of living, dwelling, building, moving, monitoring, researching, and policy-making?

Program

14:00-14:15

Opening Remarks by Sabine DULLIN (CHSP) and Anastasiya HALAUNIOVA (CSO Bruno Latour Fund)

14:15-15:00

Susanna GARTLER (University of Vienna, anthropologist)
What does Permafrost Mean to You? lnuvialuit and Gwich'in First Nation Knowledge Holders' Perceptions of a Thawing Relation
Discussants: Ruslan SHAKHMATOV (Hokkaido University, geoscientist), Hiroki TAKAKURA (Tohoku University, anthropologist)

15:00-15:45

Charlotte WRIGLEY (University of Stavanger, geographer)
Microbial Matters: Permafrost Worldmaking with Unwanted Others
Discussants: Sandrine REVET (Sciences Po CERI, anthropologist); Aleksandr NOGOVITCYN (Hokkaido University, oiogeochemist)

15:45-16:30

Anastasiya HALAUNIOVA (Sciences Po CSO, Bruno Latour Fund, sociologist)
Embracing Degradation: Monitoring Thermal State(s) of Permafrost(s) in Practice
Discussants: Katja DOOSE (University of Freiburg, historian), Florence MAGNIN (Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, geomorphologist)

[30mn Coffee and tea break]

17:00-17:45

Sabine DULLIN (Sciences Po CHSP, historian)
Sakha, the Land of the Permafrost: Taiga Ecosystem and Sovereignty of the Republic
Discussants: Go IWAHANA (University of Fairbanks (Alaska), geocryologist), Natalia DOLOISIO (Utrecht University, anthropologist)

17:45-18:30

Pey YI CHU (Pomona College (USA), historian)
Confronting the Coloniality of Permafrost
Discussants: Giacomo PARRINELLO (Sciences Po CHSP, historian), Florence MAGNIN (Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, geomorphologist)

18:30

Concluding discussion