Niches of agency: managing state-region relations through law in Russia |
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| Authors: | Gail Fondahl Viktoriya Filippova Antonina Savvinova Aytalina Ivanova Florian Stammler Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv |
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| Institution: | 1. Geography, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada;2. Arctic Research Department, The Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yakutsk, Russian Federation;3. Natural Science Faculties, Ecology and Geography Department, Institute of Natural Sciences, North-Eastern Federal University Yakutsk, Russian Federation;4. Faculty of Law, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russian Federation;5. Centre for Peace Studies, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Troms?, Norway;6. Anthropology Research Team, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland;7. Centre for Peace Studies, UiT Arctic University of Norway, Troms?, Norway |
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| Abstract: | State-region relations involve negotiations over the power to (re)-constitute local spaces. While in federal states, power-sharing ostensibly gives regions a role over many space-making decisions, power asymmetries affect this role. Where centralization trends may erode regional agency, law can provide an important tool by which regions can assert influence. We examine a case where, in response to a proposed Russian federal law highly unpopular with a regional population, the region's government sought to ameliorate its potential impacts by using opportunities to co-produce the law, amending regional legislation, and strategically implementing other federal and regional laws to protect its territory. |
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| Keywords: | Law centre-region relations territory Russia Yakutia indigenous |
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