Rebuilding Identities. Pathways to reform in Post-Soviet Siberia

Author
Erich Kasten

Publisher
Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag

Year of publication
2005

ISBN
3-496-02778-9

OPAC

Abstract
The dissolution of the Soviet Union has opened up new processes of building and rebuilding collective identities in the Russian North. Contests over identity have become highly politicised and are seen by many inhabitants of Siberia as an instrument to secure access to resources and cultural property. The mobilization strategies of activists often involve manipulation of the criteria, while simultaneously cultivating ‘cross-cutting’ and multiple identities. The contributors to this volume explore these controversial trends by paying close attention to the diverse social backgrounds of the inhabitants. The underlying issues, particularly the importance of ‘ethnicity’ vis-à-vis other types of collective identity, are by no means peculiar to the Russian North and a comparative perspective is introduced through the inclusion of additional case studies from neighbouring regions. This volume, the final in a series devoted to post-Soviet reform pathways, will therefore also be of interest to other Arctic specialists and to wider audiences in anthropology and related disciplines.