Socioeconomic differences in different parts of Russia's borderland are analyzed. Based on a compiled database of statistical indicators for 2000-2016 characterizing demographic, economic, and social development, as well as external economic ties of Russia's border regions and neighboring countries, the territorial gradients on both sides of the Russian border are assessed on a comparative basis. An increase in differences in the demographic potential has been identified in the Russian-Chinese and Russian-Kazakhstan regions. In the post-Soviet borderland, a growing inward turn of the borderline economies for the respective countries and an increasing marginality of border zones have been identified, which hinders interaction and cooperation. It has been established that the largest gradients in the level of economic development are observed at the old borders in the European part of the country inherited from the former Soviet Union. With an analysis of the economic and trade relations between the border regions of Russia and neighboring EU countries, as well as China, it has been shown that the larger the gap between their demographic and socioeconomic indicators, the higher the probability of unequal economic relations.
National neighbourhood have a significant influence on the life of people living along the state borders. They shape human interactions across borders and border residents’ attitude towards neighbours. Many concepts like ‘neighbourhood’, ‘proximity’, ‘trust’, ‘(un)familiarity’, and ‘otherness’ are usually used to explain this processes in border studies. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the comparing of perceptions, life strategies and everyday life of borderland population depends on neighbouring policy, border regime and neighbourship. Here we focus on different Russian borders with Ukraine (the new contested border in Crimea), Kazakhstan (the EAEU`s internal border), and China (old international and contact border) using different sources of information, including expert interviews as well as field observations and focus groups conducted with locals. We find that people differentiate between the neighbors they know and the neighbouring state they do not trust. Significant differences between neighbouring territories, unfamiliarity, and otherness are not allowed to get in the way of contact, because it is this contact that allows local residents to make a living. In conclusion, our results suggest that while the objective differences between the various sections of Russian borders serve to diversify the neighbourhood situations, their subjective perceptions and social representations serve to unite them.
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