Philipp Budka

Union Station, Winnipeg, MB. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Interested in narratives & temporalities of #infrastructure in 🇨🇦?

Check out @gamatulli.bsky.social's & my introduction to the brand-new special issue in @anthropologica.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.18357/ant...

#anthropology #water #energy #transport

FIFA Kisses Up to Trump With a “Peace Prize” With the world’s soccer fans watching, Gianni Infantino, the great toady to the globe’s oligarchs, handed a made-up award to the increasingly violent US president.

With the world’s soccer fans watching, Gianni Infantino, the great toady to the globe’s oligarchs, handed a made-up award to the increasingly violent #US president:
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
#Fifa #WorldCup2026

Press conference of project "GAME ON! Sports for Human Rights". Photo by Karo Pernegger.

It was great participating in the press conference for the project "GAME ON! Sports for Human Rights" by @fairplayinitiative.bsky.social - ahead of the #Football / #Soccer World Cup 2026 in 🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇲:
www.fairplay.or.at/news/news/pr...

Dehnepark, Vienna. Photo by Philipp Budka.

#Vienna, 14th district, Dehnepark.

Thanks! The edited volume is actually from 2019, so it’s been out for a few years now.

Cover of edited volume "Ritualisierung - Mediatisierung - Performance".

My 1st co-edited volume "Ritualisierung - Mediatisierung - Performance" (2019, w/ M. Luger & @franzograf.bsky.social) is currently on sale.

It celebrates the influential work of the late Manfred Kremser in #anthropology & #ritual / religious studies.

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isb...

“In northern Canada, transport is essential for daily life. My research focused on Churchill, Manitoba, which has no road connection and is the only place in the North American Arctic with a deep-sea port linked to a railway system.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth).

“In 2017, flooding damaged the railway and cut the town off for 18 months, revealing how transport sustains northern communities and how vulnerable that lifeline can be.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)

“After the 2017 railway disruption, local and Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba took ownership of the railway and port. This gave them more control over transport and local development. Churchill’s experience shows that community-led decision-making can make infrastructure more reliable and fairer.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)

“When the railway stopped working, Churchill became isolated. Instead of giving up, local and Indigenous communities worked together to buy and manage the railway and port. It is now one of the few community-owned transport systems of its kind in Canada and a strong example of local cooperation and resilience.” – Philipp Budka (University of Vienna/InfraNorth)

💡 As #InfraNorth enters its final stage, we spotlight the people behind the research, starting with Philipp Budka, who focused on #Churchill, Manitoba. His research shows how local ownership and community-led decisions can make #infrastructure more reliable & fair.

@philbu.bsky.social @univie.ac.at

Churchill Airport, MB, Canada. Photo by Philipp Budka.

In a new article for @anthropologica.bsky.social, I explore how #transport infrastructures in northern #Manitoba 🇨🇦 shape community life & #governance.

It demonstrates that #infrastructure is deeply social, political & intertwined with #climate & colonial #history.

doi.org/10.18357/ant...

...and the Introduction: Narratives and Temporalities of Infrastructure in Canada
Philipp Budka, Giuseppe Amatulli

@philbu.bsky.social @gamatulli.bsky.social

cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/an...

@alexandrinebf.bsky.social

Current Issue Published!

Vol. 67 No. 1 (2025)

Narratives and Temporalities of Infrastructure: The Canadian Experience

Thematic Section editors:
Philipp Budka, Giuseppe Amatulli

cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/an...

@alexandrinebf.bsky.social @philbu.bsky.social @gamatulli.bsky.social

AI's capabilities may be exaggerated by flawed tests, according to new study A study from the Oxford Internet Institute analyzed 445 tests used to evaluate AI models.

AI's capabilities may be exaggerated by flawed tests, according to new study:
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

It's a hybrid event:
ksa.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/us...

Looking forward to my lecture on community #infrastructures, #sovereignty & futures in remote 🇨🇦 @ the Wednesday Seminar Series of the Dpt. of Social & Cultural #Anthropology @univie.ac.at.

How the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard predicted today’s AI 30 years before ChatGPT Baudrillard’s genius lay in foreseeing what these rudimentary devices like fax machines suggested about likely future uses of technology.

How Jean Baudrillard predicted today’s #AI 30 years before ChatGPT:
theconversation.com/how-the-fren...

Nov 5, 2025: Presentation by Philipp Budka at the University of Vienna - InfraNorth On November 5, 2025, at 5:00 pm CET, InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka will deliver a lecture titled “Sovereignty by Design: Community Infrastructures and Relational Futures in Remote Canada,” as pa...

📅 Join us this Wednesday, Nov 5, at 5 pm CET, for a lecture by #InfraNorth researcher Philipp Budka, on infrastructural sovereignty in remote Canadian communities.

🌐 Hybrid at Uni Wien & Zoom, no registration needed. More details on the link below!

@philbu.bsky.social @univie.ac.at #Infrastructure

New blog post for the Digital #Ethnography Initiative (DEI) @univie.ac.at.

#Selfies Beyond the Frame: Digital Cultures in #India by Avishek Ray:
digitalethnography.at/selfies-beyo...

‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron? In an online landscape characterised by doom and division, the people’s encyclopedia stands out – a huge collective endeavour giving everyone free access to the sum of human knowledge. But with Elon Musk branding it ‘Wokipedia’ and AI looming large, can it survive?

‘People thought I was a communist doing this as a non-profit’: is Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales the last decent tech baron?

Otto-Wagner Areal. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Otto-Wagner Areal. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Otto-Wagner Areal. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Otto-Wagner Areal & Church, #Vienna.

Some ideas never die as talk of a Bering Strait tunnel returns - ArcticToday A Russian proposal to build a “Putin-Trump tunnel” under the Bering Strait is just the latest plan for a rail link between Russia and Alaska. From Gilded Age visionaries to Cold War schemers to today’...

Some ideas never die as talk of a Bering Strait tunnel returns:
www.arctictoday.com/some-ideas-n...

Kremlin envoy proposes "Putin-Trump #rail tunnel" to link Russia and US in the #Arctic:
www.reuters.com/world/kremli...

Archives. Photo by: https://unsplash.com/@nananadolgo

The Ethnographic Field School @univie.ac.at - on thinking archives ethnographically - starts today!

Looking forward to an engaging semester of hands-on research & exploration of archives.

ufind.univie.ac.at/en/course.ht...

Trump approves Alaska mining road to boost copper, zinc production President Donald Trump on Monday ordered approval of a proposed 211-mile road through an Alaska wilderness to allow mining of copper, cobalt, gold and other minerals.

Trump approves #Alaska mining #road to boost copper, zinc production:
apnews.com/article/alas...

Cologne Cathedral. Photo by Philipp Budka.

A little bit of sightseeing to wrap up #DGSKA2025 in #Cologne.

Exhibition “Out of Focus” at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Exhibition “Out of Focus” at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Exhibition “Out of Focus” at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Exhibition “Out of Focus” at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne. Photo by Philipp Budka.

Interesting exhibition at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in #Cologne, accompanying the #DGSKA2025 conference:
nomadit.co.uk/conference/d...

Thank you, Maike & Dan, for organizing this very interesting panel!

Eriko Yamasaki, Sandra Calkins, Phillip Budka & André Thiemann explore un/commoning and sustainability—from Maya maize farming 🌽 to green gentrification 🚧, Arctic infrastructure 🚂 & swine fever in Serbia 🐗. Chaired by Maike Melles & Daniel Sosna. #dgska2025

Port of Churchill, MB, Canada. Photo by Philipp Budka.

I’m really looking forward to my talk tomorrow at #DGSKA2025 (@dgska.bsky.social) in #Cologne.

I’ll be speaking about #sustainability & #infrastructure in 🇨🇦, drawing on my work with @infranortherc.bsky.social @univie.ac.at.

1st plenary session at GASCA/DGSKA conference in Cologne. Photo by Philipp Budka.

After yesterday's keynote, the GASCA/DGSKA conference @dgska.bsky.social in #Cologne continues today with its 1st plenary session.

Full program:
tagung.dgska.de/en/timetable/

#anthropology

Oct 1, 2025: InfraNorth Presentations at the 2025 GASCA Conference “Un/Commoning Anthropology” - InfraNorth On October 1, 2025, InfraNorth researchers Philipp Budka, Elena Davydova, Katrin Schmid and Susanna Gartler will present at the 2025 conference of the German Association for Social and Cultural Anthro...

Next week, four #InfraNorth researchers will present at the 2025 GASCA/DGKSA conference, on how #infrastructures sustain & transform livelihoods; epistemologies & methodologies of accompanied research; and commoning practices in the #Arctic.

@philbu.bsky.social @dgska.bsky.social #Anthropology

Local experts were involved, as well as academics doing research in the Arctic.