Grigorichev Konstantin

“Islands in Taiga”: Forms of (Re)Development of “Empty Space” in the East of Russia

The struggle for space is one of the relatively new phenomena that have become relevant in the recent decades — it has transferred from the field of international relations and geopolitics into the domestic political sphere. This tendency is especially noticeable in Russia. Moreover, the struggle for space itself takes in Russia various forms, determined by the specifics of a particular territory. While in metropolitan cities the primary forms are rallies and other collective political actions, in the relatively sparsely populated northern and eastern regions of the country it often takes the form of distancing, or going away, from the state.

In fact, this type of social behavior has already been studied by researchers. However, such research was usually devoted to the question of marginal social groups that did not seek self-presentation. This article considers a different situation when distancing is a conscious choice rather than a forced measure, and such choice generates a new type of discourse about social space and a new way of its understanding.

During the initiative field research in the Irkutsk Oblast and Khabarovsk Krai, L.Bliakher and K.Grigorichev found examples of a situation when, contrary to the conventional wisdom, remoteness and isolation are becoming a mechanism for the redevelopment and appropriation of “empty” lands, rather than factors of contraction of the developed space. Their analysis of the genesis and structure of a special type of settlements that arose in the remote regions of the east of Russia over the past decade, their internal stratification and features of communication with the “big world”, indicates the emergence of a new way to fill social space with meanings, which is only possible outside of political authorities’ regulations and large-scale economic projects. Although the cases identified and investigated by the authors are too few to draw generalizable conclusions, they indicate the hidden processes of redevelopment and redefinition of “empty lands” in the eastern part of the country.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2020-97-2-158-181

Pages: 158-181

Internal Migration as a Political Problem, or Why and How Residents of the Russian Far East Move out

The article describes and explicates the political meaning of the social practices of trans-territorial communities that consist of former Far Easterners who moved to the European part of the country and residents of the Far East. The authors hypothesize that after migration people from the eastern regions of Russia do not completely break ties with these regions, but live as if they were “above the borders”, maintaining stable social ties with communities both in the regions of origin and in the regions where they migrated. The authors assume that the specificity of the eastern territories of Russia is determined by a combination of large-scale transregional and transnational migrations with intense intra-regional population movement. The permanent nature of migrations makes the territorial community a “flowing” community, for which migrations are a natural form of existence. Since the majority of the region’s population is relatively new settlers (one or two generations), ties to the place of a departure — usually in the western part of the country — are maintained. This creates the conditions for a relatively painless movement (return) in a western direction. The dual identity associated with the “flowing” position, active contacts with the host and home communities, and the use of the resources of both sides make it possible to propose a theory of transmigration as an analytical framework. This theory, traditionally used in the analysis of transnational migration processes, can also be very productive in the study of domestic Russian migration, because it provides the key to understanding the causes and mechanisms of its high intensive “western drift” and opens up opportunities for revealing the specifics of community organization in eastern Russia, as well as the repertoire of practices that determine the current migration (and not only migration) landscape of the country.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2020-96-1-74-97

Pages: 74-97

Gazing at Mirrors: Semantic Transformations of Image of China in Russian Society

On the example of the Russian-Chinese border areas L.Blyakher and K.Grigorichev analyze transformations within the structure of the “image of the border” and the “image of the other” when translating these images into spaces that are far enough from the zone of contact between the two countries. The article shows how the Russian-Chinese border areas gradually grow into each other converging at the level of behavioral matrices and social networks, bringing to life such phenomena as “Russian China” and “Chinese Russia”. At the same time for the inhabitants of the Russian regions situated far from the border areas it is these border areas that serve as an “authentic” China, and depending on the special characteristics of the region that “reflects” this “China” its image acquires novel, sometimes unexpected features.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2015-76-1-7-24-38

Local Communities and Local Power in Non-Institutionalized Space Case-Study of Irkutsk Suburbs

In the article the author attempts to determine contours of a new system of relations between two levels of power institutions in the rural district, as well as between these institutions and local community under the conditions of non-institutionalized space of Irkutsk suburbs. The author focuses on the changes in the position of administrations of rural districts (first level) and municipal district (second level) as well as in the character of their interaction with the growing suburb community that reflect the specificity of the social space emerging at the intersection of urban and rural worlds. The research paper empirical base consists of the complex of semi-structured interviews gathered in the suburbs of Irkutsk agglomeration in 2009–2012.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-68-1-103-116

Migrants and Migrant Policy in Post-Soviet Siberia and Far East

On the basis of the analysis of the situation in the Post-Soviet Siberia and Far East the authors show that inconsistencies in the migrant policies conducted at different levels are in no small measure caused by the fact that these levels target at distinct public fears and social interests. They conclude that de facto the migrant policy conducted at regions is not anywhere near the federal one or the more or less consolidated regional system of migration regulating measures. Almost each actor implements his own “migration policy” that is constructed according to his own private interests. As a result, there is a “sum” of weakly interconnected “migration policies” that only nominally fit the Procrustean bed of the federal legislation. Such situation allows for the creation of an illusion of being within the legal space while in fact pushing the corresponding activity into the sphere of informal practices.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2011-63-4-35-60