Governing the unstable: Colonial atmospheres, ‘weathering’ Indigenous, and the colonisation of polar air in the Soviet Arctic

Abstract

This paper explores the role of polar meteorological stations in Soviet colonial ambitions during the Arctic geopolitical competition of the 1920s and 1930s, examining their enduring legacies in contemporary Russian Arctic policy. Amidst growing geopolitical interest in the Arctic, these stations became essential tools for asserting territorial sovereignty, collecting data crucial to the development of the Northern Sea Route, and consolidating Soviet control over Arctic frontiers. This research argues that these stations, functioning as instruments of state power, enabled the Soviet regime to extend its territorial claims and political reach over land, resources, and Indigenous populations in this remote region. The paper also investigates how Soviet racialised ideas about Indigenous resilience to harsh Arctic conditions were exploited to justify settler-colonial policies and control over the Arctic environment. In particular, it examines how Soviet authorities framed Indigenous peoples as naturally adaptable to extreme climates, exploiting their perceived resilience to support state-led territorial consolidation and the expansion of state control. The research situates Soviet meteorological governance within the broader context of Soviet settler-colonial policies, which sought to transform nomadic Indigenous lifestyles into permanent settlements aligned with Soviet visions of a ‘fixed’ Arctic, characterised by a stable and predictable atmosphere. Finally, the paper demonstrates how Soviet meteorological governance played a crucial role in conceptualising the Arctic as a space not only to be physically occupied but also to be weathered and controlled, highlighting the continuity between the Soviet Arctic doctrine of the 1930s and contemporary Russian Arctic policy, in which Indigenous peoples are once again perceived as particularly well-suited to climate change.