REGIONAL IDENTITY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY - THE POLITICAL EMANCIPATION OF TATARSTAN, FROM JUNE 1988 TO THE 21ST MARCH, 1992

When an autonomous republic of Russia, and one, moreover, which consti tutes its geographical heartland, proclaims is independance and its de sire for economic emancipation, does this mean that a region has sudde nly become a nation-state? The majority of Tatars live outside of Tata rstan, and within the Republic, the area of their ethnicity, they repr esent only 48% of the population. The ethno-linguistic link which unit es the Tatars of Rusia and Central Asia, revived by certain nationalis t movements which advocate extra-territorial autonomy, slackened durin g the Soviet period. It seems, henceforth, that territory has become t he essential factor in the definition of an identity for Tatarstan, ex cluding <<ethnic nationalism>>. Admittedly, territorial identity is ba sed on Soviet institutional sturctures: territorial administration ste mming from the Communist Party, major enterprises, the kolkhoz, cultur e and idiom all strongly sovietized. But the preoccupations of the pop ulation of the Republic of Tatarstan are above all economic and social : rising prices, the fear of unemployment, public health, security. By addressing these <<immediate>> questions, the local authorities in Ka zan are no doubt seeking to perpetuate their power, and to create a << feudality>>. This may only be a temporary tactic. In fact, a far-reach ing change in the soviet system is under way.