Dynamics of territorial identity and perception of the status of the region by residents of the Kaliningrad region in 2016–2020

The article deals with the specific of the territorial identity’s perception and status of the region by residents of the Kaliningrad region. Special attention was paid to 2016–2020 as a period characterized by geopolitical instability and militarization in the Baltic Sea region. +e research method is mass surveys of residents of the Kaliningrad region with subsequent statistical analysis of the data. Ideological types of respondents were used as a predictor calculated in accordance with the method of D. Nolan. On this basis two main hypotheses (H1 and H2) and two particular hypotheses were formulated: Liberal Democrats are in favor of giving the region a special economic status (H1a) and feel more like residents of Europe and the planet Earth (H2a); Social Etatist would like to see the region as an ordinary region (H1b), their identification has a pronounced pro-Russian character (H2b). It was found that among residents of the Kaliningrad region the pro-Russian identification options remain the absolute dominant, and there is a distance from the Eurocosmopolitan categories. +e most attractive status for the region for majority of residents is an area with a special economic status within the Russian Federation. The ideological type as a whole did not have a significant impact on the assessment of territorial identity and the perception of the administrative status of the region. The first hypothesis was not supported: only Liberal Democrats prefer to choose the actual area (the rest — the area with a special economic status). +e second hypothesis was partially confirmed: Social Democrats and Social Etatist consider themselves mainly as residents of the city or village where they now live; Liberal Democrats and Liberal Etatist define themselves more as a citizen of the world, a resident of the planet Earth.

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