Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zieliński, Miłosz J.

Titel

Kant's Future: Debates about the Identity of Kaliningrad Oblast

Ist Teil von

• Slavic review, 2018-12, Vol.77 (4), p.937-956

Ort / Verlag

New York, USA: Cambridge University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This article addresses the role that the legacy of the pre- and post-WWII past has played in ongoing identity debates among the inhabitants of Kaliningrad oblast of the Russian Federation. Since 1991, interest in preserving this legacy has been on the rise, influencing the inhabitants’ feeling of regional distinctiveness in numerous ways. While the pre-war legacy is important for a considerable number of Kaliningraders, others believe that it threatens the Russian and Soviet mien of the Oblast, both in cultural and political terms. They favor taking greater care of Soviet-era buildings, monuments, and other commemorations of war heroes. This viewpoint disparity has recently widened due to both internal and external factors, including the deterioration of Russo-western relations. A March 2015 incident in the village of Veselovka is used to reflect upon the way in which pre-war and post-war legacies are used in the above-mentioned identity debate. The author examines the direction of identity construction in the oblast through the officially-acknowledged vision of Russianness as pursued by President Vladimir Putin, in particular, and the Russian government, in general.