Mobile Phones for Mobile Cattle Breeders of the North: A Revolution in the Tundra?

Abstract

The article discusses the part played by new technologies in the life of nomads of the Russian North, taking mobile phone, as the device that has recently become most tangible in its impact on human life, for a case in point. The author’s goal in taking on the topic is to contribute to anthropological research in the area of latest technologies and their influence. The author argues that, in the context of Russia’s tundra regions, mobile communications have a greater potential for altering the culture and ways of life of nomadic communities than any previous technological innovations (even snowmobile, for instance). Special attention is drawn to the particular influence of mobile communications on communities leading a mobile way of life.