Ideological requirements for maps and their role in representing and producing Arctic space in the Soviet (1930-1980s) and contemporary Russia

In my master's thesis, I studied the development of the former Soviet school of cartographic thought and other national schools in the West from the second half of the 20th century onwards. I discovered that a Soviet school's core theory and higher education system differed from other schools of thought (Ignateva 2021). Our further studies found ideological connotations in theory related to the requirements for maps facilitating communism development.

Building on my earlier research, I would like to expand my analysis in my PhD, studying ideological requirements for maps and their role in representing and producing Arctic space in the Soviet (1930-1980s) and contemporary Russia. The methodology will be based on a critical cartography framework for analysing the maps' background, content and visuals.

According to the framework introduced by J. B. Harley, cartography, historically dominated by powerful groups, has been utilised for exploring and mastering space.

Cartography is a perfect medium for studying hidden issues of power and inequality due to the selective nature of maps, which allows spatial information distortion and subjective representation of space.

Choosing the Russian Arctic as a study region has potential because of its exploration and colonisation history, strategic significance and recently increased geopolitical interest. In 2017, The National Atlas of the Arctic was issued in Russia, an excellent example for studying contemporary Russian cartography. Moreover, a broader field of Arctic studies has emerged, which sheds light on the issues of colonialism, environmental change, resource exploitation and its impact on indigenous communities (Nuttall et al. 2018).

Thus, I would like to address the theme of the Russian Arctic decolonisation tendencies reflected in indigenous cartography approaches additionally.