The Russian Identity in Southern Siberian Republics: Transformation Dynamics and Basis Perception According to the Opinion Polls of 2013-2019

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

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.

About the authors

Yurii M. Aksiutin

Katanov State University of Khakassia

Author for correspondence.
Email: aksutum@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5996-3686

Candidate of Philosophy, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Law and Criminal Law Disciplines

Abakan, Russian Federation

References

  1. Avksentev, V.A., & Aksiumov, B.V., & Gritsenko, G.D. (2020). Ethnicity in political conflicts: ethnicization of politics and politicization of ethnicity. Political science (RU), (3), 74–97. (In Russian). http://www.doi.org/10.31249/poln/2020.03.04
  2. Aksutin, Yu.M. (2020). The analysis of how interethnic tension index and identity structure depend on social and economic adaptation of republic of Khakassia inhabitants in post-soviet period. Modern Science: actual problems of theory and practice, (1), 81–85. (In Russian).
  3. Anzhiganova, L.V. (2007). Evolution of inter-ethnic relations in modern Khakassia (sociological aspect). Gumanitarnye nauki v Sibiri, (1), 78–82. (In Russian).
  4. Aseeva T.A.(2017). Trends in the formation of civic identity of residents of the Altai Republic. Russian political process in the regional dimension: history, theory, practice, (10), 9–12. (In Russian).
  5. Bauman Z. (2008). Liquid modernity. Trans. from English by S. A. Komarova, Yu.V. Asochakova (Ed.). Saint Petersburg: Piter Publisher. (In Russian).
  6. Belokur, V.М. (2016). The Russian nation: basic problem of national identity of the Russian society. Regional’noe i municipal’noe upravlenie: voprosy politiki, ekonomiki i prava, 3–4(4–5), 51–71. (In Russian).
  7. Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1995). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Мoscow: Medium. (In Russian)
  8. Gromov, D.V. (2016). Ethnoeuvenology: is interdisciplinarity always justified? In The phenomenon of interdisciplinarity in Russian ethnology (pp. 397–404). Moscow: IEA RAS. (In Russian).
  9. Drobizheva, L.M. (2008). National-Civic and Ethnic Identity: Problems of Positive Compatibility. In M.K. Gorshkov (ed.), Russia is Reforming (pp. 214–228). A Yearbook. Moscow: Institute of Sociology of the RAS, 7. (In Russian).
  10. Drobizheva, L.M. (2010). Ethnicity in modern society: new approaches, old misconceptions, social practices. Vestnik instituta sotziologii, 1(1), 429–442. (In Russian).
  11. Drobizheva, L.M. (2019). The Strategy of the State National Policy on the Russian Civil Identity and its Implementation in the Multi-ethnic Regions of the Russian Federation. In Unity. Civic consciousness. Patriotism (pp. 4–8). Collection of Scientific Papers on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Ufa: World Press. (In Russian)
  12. Drobizheva, L.M. (2020). The Meanings of All-Russian Civic Identity in Russian Mass Consciousness. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, (4), 480–498. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2020.4.1261
  13. Anzhiganova, L.V., & Kotozhekov, G.G. (Eds.). (1994). Residents of Khakassia about their lives: the results of a sociological study on the topic: “The state of interethnic relations in the Republic of Khakassia in the assessments and representations of mass consciousness”. Abakan: Publishing Hakasskoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo. (In Russian).
  14. Semenenko, I.S. (Ed.). (2017). Identity: the individual, society, and politics. An encyclopedia. Moscow: Publishing «Ves’ Mir». (In Russian).
  15. Lamazhaa, Ch. K. (2021). Tuva as a limitrophe zone: language, religion and people’s identity. New Research of Tuva, (3), 178–194. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2021.3.14
  16. Anzhiganova, L.V., & Kotozhekov, G.G. (Ed.). (1997). Interethnic relations in Khakassia: results of a sociological study on the topic: “The state of interethnic relations in the Republic of Khakassia in the assessments and representations of mass consciousness”. Moscow; Abakan: Publishing HRIPKiPRO Rosa. (In Russian).
  17. Mikhailov, D.A. (2016). The ideologeme of revival and the construction of Altai nationalism. Antropologicheskij Forum, (31), 63–85. (In Russian).
  18. Mchedlova, M. M., & Kazarinova, D.B. (2020). The identity politics: competition of new theoretical meanings and political strategies. Political science (RU), (4), 13–35. (In Russian). http://doi.org/10.31249/poln/2020.04.01
  19. Nigmatullina, T.A. (2016). The politicization of ethnicity in the conditions of regional federalism. Questions of National and Federative Relations, 3(34), 89–97. (In Russian).
  20. Pain, E.A., & Fedyunin, S.Yu. (2017). Nation and Democracy: Cultural Diversity Management Perspectives. Moscow: Mysl. (In Russian).
  21. Popkov, Yu.V. (2020). Contemporary Russian national policy: conceptual and target bases and implementation experience (the case of Tuva). New Research of Tuva, (3), 253–268. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2020.3.19
  22. Popkov, Iu.V., & Kostiuk, V.G. & Tuguzhekova, V.N. (2003). Ethnoses of Siberia in the conditions of modern reforms : a sociological examination. Novosibirsk: Nonpareil. (In Russian).
  23. Religious and moral consciousness of the population of the Republic of Khakassia: problems and prospects of development: results of sociological research. (2007). V.G. Ibragimova (Еd.). Abakan : Publishing house of the N.F. Katanov Khakass State University. (In Russian).
  24. Socio-demographic portrait of Russia: According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2010. (2012). Federal State Statistics Service. Moscow: IStatistics of Russia. (In Russian).
  25. Tishkov, V.A. (1992). Ethnic conflict in the context of social theories. In: Social conflicts: expertise, forecasting, resolution technologies (Vol. 2(I), pp. 20–31). E.I. Stepanov (Ed.). Moscow: IS and IEA RAS. (In Russian).
  26. Tunduma, E.E. (2019). Associative representation of civil and ethnoregional identity of the residents of the Republic of Tyva. Mir nauki, kul’tury, obrazovaniya, 1, 419–420. (In Russian).
  27. Tyshta, E.V. (2019). Raising the political and legal status of regions during the period of diversification of Russian federalism (on the example of the Republics of Khakassia and Altai). Actual problems of regional history: the relationship of the center and regions in historical dynamics. Izhevsk: Udmurt Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. (In Russian).
  28. Chistanov, M.N., & Eremin, L.V. (2021). Modern urban diasporas: factors of social dynamics (on materials of tuva diaspora in the city of Abakan). Gumanitarnyj vektor, 16 (5), 99–105. https://doi.org/10.21209/1996-7853-2021-16-5-99-105. (In Russian).
  29. Yadov, V.A. (1995). Social and Socio-Psychological Mechanisms of the Formation of a Person’s Social Identity. World of Russia, (3–4), 9–20. (In Russian).
  30. Aksutin, Yu. M. (2018). New Russian identity and interethnic relations in the regional dimension (on the example of Southern Siberia in the 2000s). Modern Studies of Social Issues, 10(1–3), 97–102.
  31. Anderson, B.R. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin a spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
  32. Anzhiganova, L., & Asochakova, V., & Topoeva, M. (2017). Ethno-confessional neotraditionalism in a globalized world: Search for basis of identification. Revista de Humanidades, 30, 141–153. (In Spain)
  33. Archer, M. (1998). The Dubious Guarantees of Social Science: a Reply to Wallerstein. International Sociology, 13(1), 5—17.
  34. Billington, J.H. (2004). Russia in search of itself. London; Washington: Wilson center press; Baltimore: Hopkins University press.
  35. Castells, M. (2006). Globalization and identity: a comparative perspective. Transfer, 1, 56–65.
  36. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  37. Habermas, J. (1984). The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society. Boston: Beacon Press.
  38. Kapeller, J., & Wolkenstein, F. (2013).The grounds of solidarity: From liberty to loyalty. European Journal of Social Theory, 16(4), 476–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431013479689
  39. Kuzio, T. (2002). History, Memory and Nation Building in the Post-Soviet Colonial Space. Nationalities Papers, 30(2), 241–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905990220140649
  40. Leung, K.Z. (2017). Contemporary Youth Identity in the Republic of Tuva, Russia. New Research of Tuva, 3, 49 –65. https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2017.3.3
  41. Leach, C.W., & Brown, L.M., & Worden, R.E. (2008). Ethnicity and identity politics. In L.R. Kurtz (Еd.). Encyclopedia of violence, peace, & conflict (second edition) (pp. 758–768). London: Academic Press.
  42. Parsons, Т. (1991). The Social System. London: Routledge.

Copyright (c) 2022 Aksiutin Y.M.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies