Vernacular place name as a cultural arena of urban place-making and symbolic resistance in Minsk, Belarus

Problematizing urban microtoponyms

“…9) of urban microtoponyms localize urban settings spatially from different perspectives as a specific set of spatial rhetorical devices (Rofe & Szili, 2009). As has been argued elsewhere (Basik, 2023b), this has had much to do with the place-making capacity of the vernacular microtoponyms.…”

“…The term's primarily environmental, ecological, or rural dimension is also applied in other studies (see, among others, Boillat, 2023; Kladnik et al., 2020). However, there are geographical works where the term microtoponym is applied to urban objects, which is a theme of this paper (e.g., Basik, 2023a, 2023b).…”

“…The organization of urban symbolic landscapes and placemaking functions of microtoponyms (Basik, 2023b; Bigon et al., 2022; Wideman & Masuda, 2018).…”

“…Currently, there are several often overlapping thematic streams in urban microtoponymy, which can be distilled from the variety of multidisciplinary literature: The different forms of co‐existence and interactions between the official and unofficial urban place names systems (Bigon & Ben Arrous, 2022; Butnaru, 2012; Giraut, 2020; Light & Young, 2014; Mori, 2007; Njoh, 2010; Yeoh, 1992, 2017). The organization of urban symbolic landscapes and placemaking functions of microtoponyms (Basik, 2023b; Bigon et al., 2022; Wideman & Masuda, 2018). Cultural and political conflicts between the authorities and locals (Babb, 2001; Basik, 2023a; Brocket, 2021; Madden, 2018; Rose‐Redwood, 2008a; Shoval, 2013).…”

The Dynamics of Mass Mobilization in Belarus

“…The events caught many observers by surprise and challenged some of the assumptions in the comparative literature on protests. The prolonged nature of the demonstrations, their all-country nature, the potential role of social media and messenger services, the informal organizational structure behind the mobilization, collective identities, the dynamics of regime repression, and the events’ aftermath are among the features that social scientists have begun to explore (Basik 2022; Bedford 2021; Bekus 2021; Bodrunova 2021; De Vogel 2022; Gapova 2021; Greene 2022; Kazharski 2021; Kazharski and Kubová 2021; Kulakevich 2020; Leukavets 2022; Maliauskaya 2022; Mateo 2022; Moshes and Nizhnikau 2021; Murashcenkova et al 2022; O’Loughlin and Toal 2022; Onuch and Sasse 2022b, 2022a; Pendse 2022; Petrova and Korosteleva 2021; G. Robertson 2022; Sierakowski 2020; Weller 2022; and Wijermars and Lokot 2022).…”