Hiking Trails in the Factory's Shadow

Trajectories of Nature in Post-Industrial Eastern Siberia

Abstract

This text examines the transformations of the conceptual border between an East Siberian post-industrial city and its surrounding nature through the lens of retired scientists and their work on various grant-funded projects aimed at protecting rare species and developing ecotourist infrastructure. By tracing the ways in which the scientists engage with the nature around their city, I show the change in value regimes, attitudes towards the environment, and the ways in which my interlocutors are trying to secure a niche in the green future of the city, which local and federal authorities have promised and committed to in a number of documents, and which local residents consider inevitable.

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