The Formation of Liberal Identity in Socio-Cultural and Political Space of Siberia in the early XX Century: a Conceptual Model of Research

The article presents a strategic plan of the study of liberalism in Siberia in the early XX century based on the interdisciplinary concept of "identity" as a category of analysis. Historical reconstruction of the formation of liberal identity in the Siberian society presupposes investigations of not only program principles, strategy, tactics and practices of party organizations of the liberal spectrum but also liberal subculture, liberalism as a way of thinking and living among certain social groups and individuals. The following conceptual model is focused on the theoretical understanding of the object integrity and is expected to support systemic vision of the object in research strategies and procedures. The necessity to take into account the liberal identity manifestations at different levels (mentality, culture, daily life, social activities, politic) determined the choice of promising research lines. The study of the three main vectors of liberal identity - individual ( personal ) collective (group), regional -allows providing a complete representation of types of liberal identity and establishing their correlation and interdependence. It also allows determining the dynamics of the liberal identity construction in the region, its specificity and conditionality by objective circumstances and subjective factors. Solving these problems is based on the principles of the "intersection" theory as a methodology for studying the relationships between multiple dimensions of social relations. Within each research line a large corpus of various sources (official service lists, scientific and journalistic works of the liberal-minded intellectual elite, personal documents, periodicals, policy and program papers, publicity and advocacy materials of local departments of liberal parties, etc.) has been defined. Moreover, the methodical instrument (biographical method, prosopography, content and intent analysis, etc.), allowing the specific properties and characteristics of the various "axes" of liberal identity, forms and methods of representation to be identified and analyzed, has been presented. The implementation of the given conceptual research model in specific historical conditions will allow defining the peculiarities of the construction and representation of liberal identity at different levels, assessing the adaptive capacity of Russian liberalism and its ability to respond to the specific challenges of the early XX century without losing its own identity. On the general theoretical grounds the solution of the problems formulated in the study can make a certain contribution to the creation of prerequisites for understanding the problems of correlation, interrelation, and interdependence between vectors of identity (personal, collective, regional, social and civil) in different historical contexts.

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