(Re)presenting Identities in Tatarstan

The aim of this thesis is to encourage the§multidimensional approach in the study of social§identities. Identisation is presented as an§amalgamation of factors, forces and interests that§should not be analysed in isolation or reduced to a§mono-causal approach. These theoretical claims are§based on an in-depth and long term empirical§exploration of the processes of identisation in the§specific institutional context of Tatar and non-Tatar§gymnásias (secondary schools) in the Republic of§Tatarstan, part of the Russian Federation. Data§generation consisted of semi-structured and§unstructured interviewing and long- term participant§observation in Kazan (the capital of Tatarstan).§Analysis of the data shows that a complex dialectic§emerges between political discourse, institutional§praxis and quotidian representations, a dialectic and§interrelation that often has been ignored in the§study of identities. In Tatarstan it is a dialectic§between processes of Russification, Sovietisation and§Tatarisation which show the need to devote special§attention to the historical background in order to be§able to analyse the current dynamics and§representations.