The Changing Significance of Remoteness in Contemporary Russia

Abstract

The meaning of the notion of “remoteness” in contemporary Russia has been undergoing transformations. Many of the areas that used to be dynamic and developing not long ago have deteriorated, have been partially or completely abandoned, and have become “remote” over the last decades. The signifi cance of this remoteness has substantially transformed both for the people viewing it from afar and for the inhabitants of these areas. The author discusses the cases of rural Buryatia and Tatarstan’s town of Sviyazhsk to demonstrate the ways in which perceptions of these places and meanings attached to them have changed.