Constructing the “Soviet”? Regional Diversity and the Search for Identity

Abstract

Studies of science have long accepted a thesis that in the regions science is divided into “provincial” and “indigenous,” the difference between which is in the understanding of what scientific research is aimed at. According to this division, researchers working within the framework of “provincial” science strive to produce knowledge by focusing on global processes from a local context, while adherents of “indigenous” science tend to inward (Sokolov and Titaev 2013). However, even when prioritizing the importance of a broad historiographical framework, most studies of Russia’s regional history produced in Russia, which are close to kraevedenie (the field of local history), still remain closed in on themselves, rarely reaching the level of comparative analysis (Boltunova 2022). At the same time, it has become generally accepted that the analysis of both the center and the regions requires consideration of the perspectives of both sides. In this situation, it is even more paradoxical that the history of the regions has a greater chance of being noticed if it gains access, in one way or another, to the resources of the “capitals”: be it through publications in journals, presentations at conferences, study, internships, or work located in the “capitals.” The last is perhaps true of the authors of this special issue of the journal: of the seven authors (including the authors of this introduction), only one was born in the capital (Moscow), another is from the Moscow region, and the rest represent the “regions” of Russia; yet all of them studied / are studying / work in the capitals (Moscow or Saint Petersburg).