Сказать и назвать: декларируемая и вербализованная территориальная идентичность на Северо-Востоке России

In this article, based on a representative mass survey, expert and in-depth interviews, the levels of ethnic, regional and local identities in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2023 are being analysed. It was revealed that the ethnic identity of the Sakha people (ethnic Yakuts) remains consistently high and subjectively significant, among Russian Yakuts its level is raising, as well as among Russians in the country in recent years. The cognitive content of ethnic identity is considered, the most important component of which is the native language - for both Sakha and Russians, as well as culture, territory and customs. The growth of religion as a component of ethnic identity for the Sakha is revealed. For Russian Yakuts, common statehood and common history are also significantly important, that is associated with the similarity of ethnic and civil identities for the Russians. It is demonstrated that regional and local identities are also very significant for the Yakuts and are combined for the majority with Russian identity. A high level of regional identity was recorded among Russian Yakuts, that is significant for a region where for a long time those arriving for work in production considered themselves and were considered by the local community as temporary residents, guests. It was also revealed that in the issue of the priority of rights of a particular ethnic community, the overwhelming majority of the republic's residents share an open and positive point of view: "all citizens of Russia should have equal rights." However, if they are talking directly about "their" republic, more than a third of the Sakha agree with the position that "representatives of the indigenous nationality should have more rights in their national republic than representatives of other nationalities." Such a position is, on the one hand, discriminatory and potentially leading to inequalities, and on the other hand, may be caused by fear of losing their own ethnic identity. It is also shown that the widespread view in the region that it would be good for the peoples of the republics to have more independence is shared by high proportions of respondents both among the Sakha and among Russian Yakuts, that could be potentially significant for strengthening the regional community. At the same time it is important to prevent the expansion of the influence of external actors hostile to Russia, trying to exploit the so-called anti-colonialist, anti-imperial agenda with the aim of undermining the integrity of our country.

In the present article, we made an attempt to reveal the main trends in the formation and development of ethnic regional and national identity based on data from several large-scale ethnosociological studies conducted from 1993 to 2017 in several republics of the Ural-Volga region. The ethnic structure of population of Bashkortostan is represented by the three largest ethnic groups - Russians (36.0%), Bashkirs (28.4%), Tatars (24.9%). Survey data shows that the formation of different levels of identities is influenced by the ongoing social and ethnocultural policies, aimed to form the awareness within the population of their connection with the territory they live in, or with the country, with its nationwide idea of a single “Russian identity”. At the same time, depending on the regions, for a significant part of the inhabitants priority identity is ethnicity. First of all, this refers to the republics of the North Caucasus. In the course of ethnosociological research, one tendency was revealed, the essence of which is that respondents who speak Russian in everyday life consider themselves more Russians than representatives of their region, and those who use the national language are more inclined to choose regional identity. It is noted that over the past few less than 30 years, despite the revival of ethnicity and regional identity, the national identity has also been formed in the national republics. Residents of the republics have become more associated not only with their ethnicity, but also feel their belonging to a great country - Russia.

The structure of the identity of Russians (including those in Southern Siberia) began to transform after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which resulted in the revival of ethnic identities or the strengthening of different local and territorial ones. The first case was typical for titular Russian ethnic groups, while Russians didn’t have such an evident option. The Russians mostly levelled their identities down and could not find themselves among the vague new Russian identity. The beginning of the 2010s was characterized by not only discussions of the content of Russian identity and the basis for national policy, but also huge generation changes. The purpose of this article is to analyze the dynamics of Russian identity and discover typical features of Russian identity bases among the inhabitants of Khakassia, Tyva and Altai Republics. The analysis is based on opinion polls held in these polyethnocultural regions. As seen from the poll results, about 30 % consider themselves to be inhabitants of Russia. Russian identity is of high priority for people in Khakassia and Altai Republics (it is the first grade in their identities’ structure), while in the Tyva Republic Russian and regional identities are equal. The study discovered that 35-45 % of titular ethnic groups marked Russian citizenship as the basis of their identification: hence, the Russian identity is mostly a mixture of civil and state identities (about one-third of respondents noted “civil identity”). Approximately the same proportion of Russians noted the social and cultural nature of Russian identity.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union sent shock-waves around the world. In its wake some of the most dramatic effects continue to be felt by a Russia in search of a new sense of civic national identity. This book explores the nexus between national identity and national self-images in contemporary Russia. Using in-depth interviews with Russian politicians, it explores how political division, the intense search for internal threats to national security, and centre-periphery tensions in light of the upsurge of regional identities has hampered the successful construction of overarching civic national identities. The book provides fascinating insights into the complicated Russian political scene, and provides a deeper understanding of the sentiments and societal milieu which brought Vladimir Putin to presidential power. (Less)

The article deals with the problem of the formation of the identity of the modern Russian student youth in St. Petersburg. The study is relevant due to the insufficient formation of modern Russian identity and its value bases, as well as the need to study the influence of European values on the worldview of the modern Russian youth in the context of globalisation. The purpose of the study was to identify the level of European identity among the Russian youth, as well as the attitude of the youth of St. Petersburg to Russian and European identities, to the problems of European integration, mutual influence of the cultures. The young generation born in the new Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union was formed under the influence of the emerging new Russian identity, as well as the European identity, Western values and the processes of globalisation. Students of St. Petersburg, historically the most European city in Russia, were selected as the target group of the study.
 The method of in-depth interviews was used as the main research tool. The results of the study showed the great importance for young Russians of the concept of "European identity", as well as European values ​​and the European way of life, that confirms the assumption preceding the study about the significance of European influence on the worldview of modern youth in the context of globalisation. The attitude of the surveyed youth towards Russian identity is less positive, being consistent with the researchers' statements about the lack of clarity regarding the concept of "Russian identity" and its basic values. The limitation of the study is that the sample included only students from St. Petersburg, and therefore its results are difficult to extrapolate to other regions of Russia, due to the special position of the city. The results of the study are preliminary in nature, allowing to identify the most significant trends in the formation of identity among today's youth, that will serve as the basis for further research.
 The analysis of the study data showed that the European project of identity formation is more attractive to the surveyed youth than the Russian project of identity formation.

The Armenian diaspora is one of the largest in Russia and in the world. The Armenians living in the Krasnodar Territory are a large and active group, thus, an investigation into the problem of their acculturation is of scientific and practical importance. Based on the theory of social identity, the theory of acculturation, and the regional socio-cultural context, the study focused on the role of ethnic, regional and Russian national (civic) identities and diaspora activity in the acculturation of the Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory. The study used the scales from the MIRIPS project questionnaire (Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies). The sample consisted of 181 respondents. Using structural equation modeling, the ethnic and Russian national identities of the Armenians living in the Krasnodar Territory were revealed as factors that contributed to their integration, and regional identity—as factors that fostered assimilation. Diaspora activity was determined by both ethnic and regional identity and predicted the Armenians’ attitudes towards integration and separation. Also, diaspora activity of the Armenians in the Kuban region facilitated the interconnection of ethnic and regional identities with the separation strategy. In general, the study revealed that all identities (ethnic, regional and Russian national) contribute to a certain degree to the acceptance of the host society culture by the Armenians in the Krasnodar Territory. At the same time, diaspora activity can be an effective mechanism for the adaptation of migrants or a source of problems associated with increased impenetrability of diaspora’s borders, the migrants’ exclusive focus on their ethnic group and their decreased desire for sociocultural integration into the host society. It is important to take this into account when shaping the regional interethnic relations policy.

Table of Contents 0. Introduction (Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbsloeh, and Ani Kokobobo) Part I: Framing Russia's Regions 1. The Six Waves of Russian Regionalism in European Context, 1830-2000 (Susan Smith- Peter) 2. Provinces, Regions, Circles, Grids: How Literature Has Shaped Russian Geographical (Anne Lounsbery) Part II: Rethinking European Russian Identities 3. Militarized Memory: Patriotic Re-branding in Post-Soviet Pskov (Victoria Donovan) 4. Wayfinding, Map-making and the Holy Springs of the Orel Region (Jane Costlow) 5. 'How is Voronezh not Paris?' City Branding in the Russian Provinces (Lyudmila Parts) Part III: Russian Identities in the Urals 6. The Strange Case of a Regional Cultural Revolution: Sverdlovsk in the Perestroika Years (Mark Lipovetsky) 7. Enchanted Geographies: Aleksei Ivanov and the Aesthetic Management of Ural Regional (Bradley Gorski) Part IV: Russian Identities in Siberia 8. Siberian Regional Identity: Self-Perception, Solidarity, or Political Claim? (Alla Anisimova, Olga Echevskaya) 9. Tomsk Regional Identity and the Legacy of the Gulag and Stalinist Repression (Wilson T. Bell) Part V: Regional Identities outside the Orthodox Zone 10. National Identity in Post-Soviet Tatarstan: Orthodox Missionaries in Twenty-First Century Tatar Literature and Film (John Romero) 11. Women, Memory, and Resistance: Dealing with the Soviet Past in the Volga-Ural Region (Yulia Gradskova) 12. 'Why Does Russia Need Hadji Murat's Head?' Hadji Murat, Dagestani Identity, and Russia's Colonial Exploits (Ani Kokobobo) Afterword: The Power of the Provinces (Catherine Evtuhov)

The components of professional deformations of specialists are determined: a high level of psychoemotional (emotional) exhaustion; higher than the average level of depersonalization (personal estrangement), professional deformations in general, reduction of personal achievements and professional motivation. The features of the ethnic identity of specialists with professional deformations are revealed: the average level of the sociocultural and regional identity, racism, ethnonihilism, normal positive ethnic identity, ethno-egoism, ethno-isolationism; below the average level of ethnofanatism. A comparative analysis of the ethnic identity of professionals with professional deformations (average level of normal positive ethnic identity, racism, regional and sociocultural identity, emotional-value component of ethnic identity, ethno-isolationism, ethno-nihilism, ethno-egoism) and without pronounced professional deformations (below average level of racism, ethnic indifference, ethno-isolationism, ethnonihilism, ethno-egoism; above average level of normal positive ethnic identity, regional and sociocultural identity). Correlations between the severity levels of types of ethnic identity and the components of professional deformations were established: a noticeable relationship between the high level of psychoemotional (emotional) exhaustion and the average level of the sociocultural and regional identity, racism, ethno-nihilism, ethnic indifference, normal positive ethnic identity, ethno-egoism, ethno-isolationism; moderate connection between below the average level of ethnofanatism and above the average level of depersonalization (personal estrangement), reduction of personal achievements and professional motivation, professional deformations in general.

The phenomenon of Russian religious identity in Siberia is considered. Religious and secular texts of Siberian authors of 19 th - early 20 th centuries, documents of regional archives are used as a material. Special place is given to the issues of “religiosity” and special “mores of Siberians.” The aim is to analyze the process of actualization of traditional conservative Russian values in Siberia. The author concludes that the transformation of the regional Siberian identity was influenced by the concept of “Russian Palestine.” It was one of the unique “repositories” of national cultural memory and Russian identity. The intervention of the Russian tradition in Palestine was carried out for centuries, as a result of which a unique religious and cultural phenomenon arose thousands of kilometers from the borders of Russia. Despite the changes and upheavals within the country, “Russian Palestine” retained its functions as a “repository,” became a kind of intertemporal field on which the formation, verification and consolidation of new, specific religious and cultural ideas and values took place, through the Holy land the connection of Siberia with Central Russia occurred. The main communication bridge between Siberia and the Holy land were Siberian Orthodox pilgrims. The main purpose of the pilgrimage, according to the Siberian clergy, was to raise the religious feelings of believers, “the improvement of the Orthodox faith.” The way to Palestine for the Siberian Gentiles who converted to Christianity was the way to acquire Russian identity.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of the interaction of national-civil, regional and ethnic identities in the region on the basis of an expert survey conducted in May 2022 in the Republic of Adygea. The methodological basis of the of the study includes an interdisciplinary method for the study of identity, proposed by L. M. Drobizheva, which made it possible to identify the mechanisms for the development of various levels of identity and identification processes, as well as ways to form their positive compatibility; the concept of a multi-level identity proposed by the ASU research team led by A.Yu. Shadzhe, which interprets social identity from the point of view of polyparadigm, and the identified levels of identity as interpenetrating and complementary.   Research results. The results of the conducted expert survey allow us to once again assert that in the Republic of Adygea national-civil, regional and ethnic identities coexist on the principle of complementarity and compatibility. Moreover, the expert community of the region agrees that there are no contradictions or confrontation between the three levels of identity in the region.   Prospects of the study are related to further comprehensive interdisciplinary research of complementarity, compatibility and/or solidarity of national-civil, ethnic and regional identities, assessment of the challenges and risks of the new reality that affect the identification and consolidation mechanisms of a multi-ethnic Russian society (on the example of the Republic of Adygea).  

We estimated the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration and release by managed forests in Siberia and the Russian Far East. The data from "National report of the Russian Federation on the inventory of human-induced emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases not controlled under the Montreal Protocol for 1990-2010" served as input data. We calculated the amounts of CO2 taken up and released. The net CO2 flux is a difference between the CO2 sequestrated and CO2 released. The sequestration potential of forests depends on the climatic conditions of the area and the species of woody plants growing there. Many forests die every year, and the CO2 release by forests is caused by clear-cuttings and natural disasters. The highest sequestration rate of forests was observed in Omsk and Irkutsk regions, the lowest in the Chukotka autonomous district and Magadan region. The largest amounts of CO2 were sequestrated in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Krasnoyarsk territory. The highest release rates were observed in the Chukotka autonomous district and the Khabarovsk territory, the lowest – in the Novosibirsk region, Kemerovo region, and Kamchatka territory. We conclude that nearly half of the total CO2 sequestration by managed forests in Russia was contributed by its Asian regions, with 27.5% by the Siberian Federal District and 20.9% by the Russian Far East

The content and predictors of the ethnic identity of Russian-speaking immigrant adolescents (N = 170) in Finland were investigated. The ethnic identity of immigrants was found to be composed of two dimensions, one reflecting the cognitive, evaluative and emotional components of their Russian identity and the other reflecting those of their Finnish identity. The ethnic and linguistic self-identifications of adolescents were strongly related to the extent of and the value given to the Russian and Finnish identity, but neither to the frequency of using nor to their proficiency in the respective languages. The immigrants' perceptions of the relationships with parents were strongly related to their Russian identity. This association was, however, very different for girls and boys. In addition, the Russian contact orientation and Russian language use were strong predictors of the adolescents' Russian identity, whereas their Finnish contact orientation and Finnish language use strongly predicted their Finnish identity.

This article presents the findings of a psycholinguistic study on the concepts of “Small Homeland” and “Big Homeland” within the linguistic consciousness of residents in Northeast Russia, specifically focusing on the regions of Yakutia and Chukotka. Utilizing a free associative experiment conducted as part of a large-scale sociological survey (N=1434), key semantic dominants and connotations associated with these concepts were identified. The analysis of the resulting associations allowed for the categorization of various levels of territorial identity among respondents, ranging from global to local. Special attention is given to the regional specificity of linguistic consciousness, as well as age and gender differences in the interpretation of the studied concepts. The results of the study reveal a complex, multi-layered structure of the notions “small homeland” and “big homeland,” which serve as markers of local, regional, and civic identity in the minds of residents in Northeast Russia. The findings contribute to the development of a psycholinguistic approach to the study of territorial identity and open avenues for further interdisciplinary research in this field.

The problem of social identification of an individual and the "We-concept" is one of the most popular in modern social and humanitarian knowledge. Particular attention of researchers is drawn to the issues of ethnic and civic identity of Russians, their significance and interaction in the "We-concept" of youth. This topic is of particular importance due to a number of factors, among which are the multicultural nature of the Russian nation, modern globalization and geopolitical processes. The article is based on the analysis of some results of the survey "Who Am I? Who Are We? in Youth", conducted in November 2023 - March 2024 using the online questionnaire method in six regions of the Russian Federation (Arkhangelsk, Volgograd and Tyumen regions, the republics of Bashkortostan, Buryatia and Udmurtia). The study shows that the state and civil identity of Russians can be considered as a hierarchically structured system in which ethnic, regional and local identities act as its levels. Ethnic identity continues to retain its significance, but is somewhat inferior to Russian identity. Moreover, as people grow older, the significance of social identity categories (ethnic, civil) generally begins to yield to self-identity categories.

Reviewed by: Pedagogies of Culture: Schooling and Identity in Post-Soviet Tatarstan, Russia by Dilyara Suleymanova Elmira Akhmetova Pedagogies of Culture: Schooling and Identity in Post-Soviet Tatarstan, Russia Dilyara Suleymanova Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 208 pages School education is one of the critical structures where the state implements its projects of social and political transformation. Governments commonly seek to shape political subjectivities and to inculcate a new set of civic values and commitments through public education. Hence, public education is a strategic arena for the state in its aspirations to shape loyalties and construct categories of identification that go beyond local, ethnic, or religious affiliations toward an institutionalized state-centered national identity. It is crucial for the processes of state formation not only to create bureaucratic institutions, but also to induce in individuals the belief that they are citizens of the state and they belong together. At the same time, the centralized educational system with its state-level aspirations may cause a dilemma for the cultural and ethnic minorities as their own local and regional appeals could be overshadowed under the state-centered national identity formation process. Such a dilemma is explored by Dilyara Suleymanova in the new book entitled Pedagogies of Culture: Schooling and Identity in Post-Soviet Tatarstan, Russia. The discussion is based on an ethnographic fieldwork research conducted in two schools (one Russianmedium and the other Tatar-medium) and a madrasah in a small semi-urban settlement in the northeastern part of Tatarstan, a Muslim-majority autonomous region within Russia. This new volume accordingly offers insights into the life of a peripheral location in post-Soviet Russia, marked by ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. Education here is envisaged as an institution that seeks to form, transform, and reproduce the sense of identification and belonging among children and youth, thus envisioning to shape political attitudes and cultural attachments within society. The book consists of seven chapters. In chapter 1, the author introduces the reader to Tatarstan and its educational projects. Chapter 2 provides [End Page 113] a comprehensive observation of educational policies, developments, and projects that have been implemented in Tatarstan since the collapse of the Soviet Union to promote regional and ethnic identity formation. The author divided this period into two parts: (a) the era of sovereignization and ethno-cultural revitalization (from the 1990s to the early 2000s), and (b) the era of centralization of public education under the presidency of Vladimir Putin. During the first period, educational policy projected to construct a distinct regional identity and post-Soviet Tatar nationhood that involved the revitalization of the Tatar language, culture, and religion. The regional components such as Tatar language lessons and the course on the history of the Tatars became one of the focus areas of the republic's educational policy and curriculum. School knowledge and textbooks became more localized with local and regional cultural, religious, and historical cases. Students got involved in various classroom and extracurricular activities related to their immediate locality (city, town, village) and their region. Thus, Suleymanova observes that, in the case of post-Soviet Tatarstan, the regional component created an institutional framework and a discursive space within which regional, local, and ethnic notions of belonging could be promoted and forged. In this way, as the author suggests, the regional component presented one of the most important instruments in forging and constructing not only a regional identity, but also an ethno-national identity among school students. A person with a consolidated ethnonational consciousness will naturally strive to learn his/her ethnic language, culture, and traditions and thus contribute to the Tatar ethnonational revival. As a result, this era produced a new cohort of young people with a strong sense of ethnic and regional identity and high levels of activism. The same chapter also observes the failure of all these achievements in constructing ethno-national identity in Tatarstan due to the new policies of centralization and homogenization under the presidency of Putin, which resulted in the elimination of the regional component and the introduction of the new federal education standards. Chapter 3 discusses the role of schools in the practices of "reinventing ethnic cultures" of local communities. Based on the experience of two particular...