Trends of Russian political regional studies’ development as a scientific branch in 2010-s

Abstract

The article is devoted to clarifying the latest trends in the development of political regionalism as a direction of political science in modern Russia. The author argues that there is no direct correspondence between political regionalism in Russia and “regional science”, as well as “area studies” in Western countries, pointing out the reasons for these differences in scientific traditions. The main attention in the article is paid to the definition of the category “political region” and the substantiation of the author’s interpretation of the structure of political regionalism as a scientific direction. Given that the previous stages of development of political-regional studies have already become the subject of reflection, the author has focused on changes in priorities and conclusions of the work of the 2010s. It confirms the lack of integration between such scientific areas as the study of federalism and other territorial-political systems; center-regional political relations; regional policy as a strategy for territorial development; regional political systems and regimes; regional political elites and interest groups; political parties and public (ethnic, religious, other) organizations; regional political cultures and identities; subnational political processes and conflicts. At the same time, the improvement of methodologies and methods for analyzing the political reality of the regions has been established. The interaction between geopolitical, political-geographic and political-regional research was intensified. A comparative analysis of Russian and foreign regional actors, institutions and processes are becoming productive. The influence of the confrontation between the West and Russia on the subject of political and regional research is noted: an increase in the number of works on transnational integration, modern empires and new states.