IDENTITY OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA: IS THERE A CHANGE OF ETHNIC BORDERS? (PART I)

Abstract

The analysis of the study of identities and semantic constructions of the value consciousness of the inhabitants of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol in ethnic groups is presented. The approach of the social anthropologist F. Barthes about the change of ethnic identity is used, with the help of which the process of the formation of the identity of the inhabitants of Crimea in the new socio-political reality is analyzed. The authors tried to understand how social processes contribute to the preservation of ethnic status, which occurs when ethnic characteristics are blurred or changed. The empirical model of the study included a mass survey of 2000 residents of the cities of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The object of the study was the inhabitants of the peninsula, during which three groups were singled out according to their ethnicity: those who consider themselves to be Russians - into the group of "Russians", who identify themselves as Ukrainians - into the group "Ukrainians", who refer to the Crimean Tatar population - into the group "Crimean Tatars ". The authors associate the understanding of the process of formation and change of identities among residents of the Crimean peninsula with factors of the social environment, communications, political and economic benefits. As a conclusion, the authors note that the process of forming identities in various ethnic groups of Crimea should be based on the principles of regional patriotism, taking into account territorial attachment to Crimea, creating unifying cultural codes, providing open alternatives, social opportunities, social trajectories of success that ethnicity can transmit.