Identification of Siberian political elite: a case-study of the Interregional Association Siberian Accord activities

In the 1990s the regional elites of Siberia formed Siberian (regional) identification. This was manifested in the fact that, firstly, there was constantly the common Siberian theme in the power discourse; secondly, this was expressed in the formation of the power particular language (discourse) filled with the unique common Siberian images that were becoming a powerful tool of the Soviet identity destruction and the emergence of the regional identity. Power "Siberian identity" had mostly political significance because it was oriented to the "outside" - the federal center and other regions. This focus was intended to approve significant regional symbols, meanings, hierarchies at the federal level. Thus, the regional elites tried to built the thesis of "Siberian uniqueness" into the federal power discourse and update it regularly. In turn, the Center, interested in the regions support, took the images conveyed to it, accented them, which laid the foundation for compromises within the elite. However, the political significance of the Siberian identification should not be exaggerated. It was not focused on mobilizing population to encourage separatist movements and division, but rather on demonstrating to the Center during the periods of tension the situation that such mobilization could be carried out if necessary. Actualizing Siberian identification, the regional elites "as if' helped the Center to see the problem in time and take the necessary measures. In fact, it was a way to draw attention to regional problems. Siberian identification was not separatist in nature, as evidenced by the use of not only images of Siberia, but also their combination with the all-Russian values, including the value of preserving a single state, the equality of all subjects, etc. "Siberian identification" was not opposed to Russia, and developed as part of it. Siberian regional elite identification was hardly "sustainable" and completely formed. The understanding of new realities superimposed on the previous views (system of values) of the Soviet period. The process was bilateral: regional leaders themselves, based on their performances, interpreted what was happening, thereby influencing the reality perception of both the population of subject territories and the federal center. However, with respect to the image of "a whole" ("we - Siberians"), it should be noted that this image came into conflict with the image of individual regions, competed with them in the power discourse space, which blurred "the whole image of Siberia", and, consequently, Siberian identification.

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