Living and Working With Snow, Ice and Seasons in the Modern Arctic

This book describes everyday practices of life in changing Arctic winter conditions. The authors explore the contemporary and situated outdoor practices in different work settings in Finnish Lapland and investigate how, for example, tourism, reindeer herding, cattle breeding and urban snow management adapt to the physically limiting or enabling features of cold temperatures, snow and ice. The book also highlights individual and societal adjustments to such harsh conditions and their seasonal changes in mobility, including winter cycling, use of snow mobiles and walking with studded shoes. The impact of a warming climate is a great concern for those utilising the enabling qualities of winter weather. The need, then, for continuous adaptation in everyday practices of work and mobility will increase in the future. Hannah Strauss-Mazzullo, conducts research at the University of Lapland on people’s relationship with the Arctic environment. She has published widely on conflicting land uses and public involvement in environmental decision-making processes, especially in the context of nuclear and hydropower production. Monica Tennberg, research professor at the University of Lapland, is an expert in Arctic environmental social studies. Her recent work includes Unravelling the North: Critical studies of the Arctic, a book co-edited with Marjo Lindroth and Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), and Indigenous peoples, natural resources and governance: Agencies and interactions, a volume co-edited with Else Grete Broderstad and Hans-Kristian Hernes (Routledge, 2022).