From Regions to Metropolises: Models of Regional and Political Identities Transposition among Russian Youth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2026.2.3155Keywords:
multiple identities, models of transposition, migration, regional identity, political identity, identity transformationsAbstract
The article examines the transformation of regional and political identities in the context of internal migration in Russia, focusing on their transposition within metropolitan settings. Drawing on Erving Goffman's theory, transposition is conceptualized as a shift in the tone of identity that preserves its internal logic and reflects individual agency during socio-cultural transitions. The study adopts a constructivist perspective, treating identity as a dynamic and reflexive construct shaped through socialization, positioning, and lived experience. The empirical data consists of 50 in-depth interviews with young intraregional migrants from the Kamchatka Krai, the Republic of Karelia, and the Tula and Kaliningrad regions who relocated to Moscow or St. Petersburg. Based on qualitative analysis, the article identifies several models of identity transposition, illustrating different strategies of adaptation, reinterpretation, and preservation of identificational foundations. Transposition models work with significant factors that shape a particular mode of “I” in the context of relocation. The study reveals how regional and political identities may compete, complement each other, or form hybrid configurations under conditions of biographical change and metropolitan integration.
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