Based on extensive research in the Arctic Russian region of Chukotka, Settlers on the Edge is the first English-language account of settler life anywhere in the circumpolar north to appear since Robert Paine's The White Arctic (1977), and the first to explore the experiences of Soviet-era migrants to the far north. Niobe Thompson describes the remarkable transformation of a population once dedicated to establishing colonial power on a northern frontier into a rooted community of locals now resisting a renewed colonial project. He also provides unique insights into the future of identity politics in the Arctic, the role of resource capital and the oligarchs in the Russian provinces, and the fundamental human questions of belonging and transience.

Niobe Thompson's profile page

Niobe Thompson is a documentary filmmaker, a partner in Clearwater Media, and a research associate at the Canadian Circumpolar Institute. He also teaches in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta.

Settlers on the Edge benefits from a prose style that, while sophisticated, is clear and free of jargon. Thompson presents a number of insights about late Soviet and post-Soviet society in general, and certainly about Chukotka itself. The stories of his informants are often affecting. Students and specialists in Russian history and arctic studies will find this is a most welcome addition to their libraries, as will anyone interested in anthropological research and colonial and post-colonial studies. It should appeal to a wider audience as well.

The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, Vol. 38 (2011)