Establishing the Regional Identity in Northern Russia. History and Modernity

Abstract

It seems a paradox but the regional identity has never been an issue in the light of possible causes of the state collapse, except for periods of national crisis. Comprehen¬sion of the regional identity in Russia is based on archival sources and results of the fieldwork and data collection made by the authors of the article in remote areas of the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation. The article also presents its history of exploration and settlement. The specificity of the area is its cultural fragmentation. The government made an effort to create economic ties between localities and contributed to the setup of national Russian identity, rather than the regional one.

Keywords

• territorial identity
• regional identity
• the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia
• “we – the other”
• locality