Sagdieva E. A. “Small homeland” in the big city: The role of regional communities in identity formation (on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 208-229.

EDN: UWKQIC

Annotation

The article considers fellowmen communities in municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan as a form of informal self-organization and influential elements in the regional social-cultural life. These communities are analyzed as erroneous forms of unification of Tatarstan rural residents in cities, which perform social, cultural and communicative functions. Based on empirical observations, interviews and case studies, the author shows how fellowmen communities become a space for reproducing local identity and maintaining horizontal connections and a symbol of the “small homeland”; considers their integration into the system of power relations and their role in the territorial social-economic development; explains transformation of regional communities from informal mutual aid groups to structured entities interacting with the authorities, business and cultural organizations, supporting social-cultural practices, symbolic politics and informal legitimation. The theoretical basis of the study includes the concepts of local identity, social networks, P. Bourdieu’s theory of capital and theory of patron-client relations, which allows to interpret regional communities not as relics of rural culture but as contemporary dynamic formations integrated into the regional governance system. Thus, the study reveals mechanisms for preserving local communities and new forms of collectivity emerging at the intersection of urbanization, migration and cultural self-determination, which helps to understand hybrid models of regional development.

Keywords

Communities, Republic of Tatarstan, local identity, territorial identity, network relations, local community, social charity.  

About the author

Elvina A. Sagdieva, PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Department for Ethnological Research, Marjani Institute of History, Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. Baturina St. 7, Kazan, 420111, Russia.
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Kuznetsov E. A., Mikhailovskaya V. A. Tourist industries and the “right to the city”: Constructing local identity in post-Soviet Sortavala through the access to tourism resources // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 40-71.

EDN: DYUCXN

Annotation

The article considers grassroots economic practices in the tourism sector of Sortavala, a town in northwestern Russia, which has undergone significant transformation following the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of international borders in the 2020s. In the absence of large industrial enterprizes, domestic tourism has become a primary economic activity for local residents. The authors focus on tourism crafts — f lexible, small-scale, and often informal practices that aim at self-sufficiency — to show how they adapt to the region’s unstable social-economic conditions. These practices differ from both precarious wage labor and formal entrepreneurship, representing a distinct mode of engagement with the tourist economy, which is widely perceived as the only viable and strategically promising development path. Based on the qualitative study conducted in 2023–2024, the authors argue that access to tourism resources (places, infrastructure, narratives, and natural environments), which can be monetized through tourist interactions, serves as the central factor of participation in this economy. This access is unevenly distributed, has become a key site of social conflicts, and serves as not only an economic opportunity but also a mechanism for expressing and enacting a sense of belonging. Through tourism crafts, local actors assert a form of the “right to the city” — the right not only to inhabit but also to actively shape urban and natural spaces. Thus, grassroots involvement in tourism functions as a medium for articulating and renegotiating local identity.

Keywords

Sortavala, tourism economy, informal economy, tourism crafts, tourism resources, right to the city, local identity.  

About the authors

Egor A. Kuznetsov, Research Intern, Center for Sociocultural and Ethnolinguistic Research, Faculty of Humanities, National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (HSE University). Myasnitskaya St., 20, Moscow, 101000, Russia.
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Varvara A. Mikhailovskaya, Research Intern, Center for Sociocultural and Ethnolinguistic Research, Faculty of Humanities, National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (HSE University). Myasnitskaya St., 20, Moscow, 101000, Russia.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.