A moving element

Abstract

The chapter considers the role of ice in the economic life of northwest Russian modern coastal and maritime communities. It aims to discuss the link between multilevel understanding of ice on the one hand and the everyday economic strategies of the urban and coastal population on the other. In the period under study the scientific research of the ice developed alongside traditional knowledge of peasant communities. The interaction between educated society and traditional communities offers intriguing insights into the history of the ice in one of the most frozen parts of the planet. Evidence for practices of water biota exploitation in the Russian North reveals ice as a powerful actor in the life of the coastal communities, which in turn became a key factor in the development of those northerly communities. The environmental history of St Petersburg provides a counterpoint in terms of how the interaction between the growing capital city and ice offered up a spectrum of opportunities for activities while interfering with the city’s dependence on water-based transportation.