Russia is a country of great complexity—eighty-nine subject regions, ethnic diversity, economic variance across regions, the power struggle of Moscow versus the regions—and multiple realities—urban versus rural, rich versus poor, and cosmopolitan versus provincial, just to name a few. Fragmented Space in the Russian Federation explores Russia’s complexity and the meanings of the country’s internal borders, the future of its agricultural spaces, the development of its political parties, and the effect of its federal organization.

The contributors examine stratification, citizenship, federalization, democratization, the politics of culture and identity, and globalization. These essays show how political leaders within Russia and scholars and policymakers from outside must accept the country’s complexity and view uncertainty as a positive development rather than a liability. The authors explore how Russian experience can enhance theory political science, sociology, geography, and economics.

Blair A. Ruble is director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Jodi Koehn is editor, and Nancy Popson is deputy director, of the Kennan Institute.

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Jodi Koehn, Nancy E. Popson, and Blair A. Ruble

1. Russia’s Fragmented Space
Grigory Ioffe, Olga L. Medvedkov, Yuri Medvedkov, Tatiana Nefodova, and Natalia Vlasova

2. The Ties That Bind: The Importance of Region in the Construction of Social and Political Citizenship
Cynthia Buckley and Regina Smyth

3. Federalization
Beth Mitchneck, Steven L. Solnick, and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss

4. Democratization Challenged: The Role of the Regional Elites
James Alexander, Andrei A. Degtyarev, and Vladimir Gel’man

5. Issues of Culture and Identity: “Cultural Entrepreneurship” in Russia’s Regions
Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Nicolai N. Petro, and Lawrence R. Robertson

6. Globalization and Fragmentation: The Impact of the International Relations of Russia’s Regions
Michael J. Bradshaw and Andrei S. Makarychev

“An important scholarly source for understanding the place of regions in Russia’s political, social, and economic development.”—Yoshiko M. Herrera, Russian Review

“This timely work…offers an excellent introduction to the differences that challenge Russia's spatial integrity.”—Gail Fondahl, Journal of Regional Science

“A good book with plenty of interesting information and analysis that can be recommended for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses.”—David Lane, Slavic Review

“This book represents a major advance in the field of Russian regional studies that specialists will happily welcome upon publication. It presents a large amount of new material as well as interesting new approaches for understanding political, economic, and social development in Russia.”—Robert W. Orttung, editor-in-chief of the “Russian Regional Report,” EastWest Institute