The dissolution of the Soviet Union has opened up new processes of
building and rebuilding collective identities in the Russian North.
Contests over identity have become highly politicised and are seen by
many inhabitants of Siberia as an instrument to secure access to
resources and cultural property. The contributors to this volume explore
these controversial trends by paying close attention to the diverse
social backgrounds of the inhabitants. The underlying issues,
particularly the importance of ethnicity vis-a-vis other types of
collective identity, are placed into a comparative perspective through
the inclusion of additional case studies from neighboring regions