State of Permafrost
State Power, Non‐Eternalism, and Monitoring Frozen Earth in Russia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7472018 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anastasiya Halauniova (0000-0003-4557-4596, Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO) Sciences Po Paris France, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Antipode (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0066-4812 • E-ISSN: 1467-8330 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/anti.70074 |
| OpenAlex | W4414676910 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 37 |
While grounds form the physical foundation of states, their particular qualities are often overlooked in studies of state power. This article explores how the Russian state integrates permafrost—ground that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years—into its extractive ambitions amid accelerating climate change. Covering nearly 65% of Russia's territory, permafrost regions are central to the country's oil, gas, coal and non‐ferrous metal industries. However, rising temperatures are causing rapid permafrost thaw. Following the 2020 Norilsk diesel spill—one of Russia's most severe environmental disasters—the state established its first unified, state‐sponsored permafrost monitoring system. Based on interviews with scientists, engineers and state officials, alongside archival research and discourse analysis, this study traces the development of this permafrost monitoring system and reveals how thawing permafrost—once regarded as stable and “eternal”—is now framed as particularly unstable and requiring enhanced state control. Building on insights from the “subterranean turn” in geography, I argue that permafrost's instability unsettles state imaginaries premised on solid ground and reveals the material limits of state power. The article situates these dynamics within Russia's imperial history, demonstrating how frozen earth both supports and constrains state power
Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Polar Research and Ecology
The Nature of Soviet Power
Impossible Engineering
Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback
Toward a Relational Materiality of Soils
No longer solid’
The legal status of Arctic sea ice in the United States and Canada
Mapping Permafrost Country
Assemblages of State Power
Roads
Physical and feasible
Contested Sovereignty in a Changing Arctic
Filling the hole? On new geographies of the subsurface
Producing vertical territory
Monitoring materialities
Outposts of science
Preemption, precaution, preparedness
Towards a solid-fluid territory
Secure the volume
The Fearful Symmetry of Arctic Climate Change
Against decline? The geographies and temporalities of the Arctic cryosphere
Introduction to the Special Issue
Geopolitics and Ice Humanities
Seeing Like a State
Solidifying Grounds
The Tempo of Solid Fluids
Introducing Solid Fluids
Geosocial Formations and the Anthropocene
Pleistocene Park
The state of things
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |