The Spatial Articulation of Identity and Social Problems: Estonia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan Through Focus Groups by

4 Social problems have figured prominently in social change over the last ten years in the lands of the former Soviet Union. Although there have been many expert interpretations of these social problems, and many assessments of how different nationalities and classes interpret these problems, I address the spatial articulation of identity formation and social problems. Drawing upon 36 focus groups conducted in 15 sites within Estonia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan in 1996-97, I explain the conditions under which different spatial senses are invoked, including international, ruraVurban and regional distinctions and comparisons. The highly educated in capital cities are less likely to use explicit spatial frameworks to assess change in the last ten years. Those in the countryside and provincial cities, especially in economically and ecologically devastated places, are most likely to narrate change in spatial terms. Outside of those places, women are less likely than men to use explicit spatial references in their discussions, but when spatial articulations can be linked to everyday life as in the discussion of rural women's unemployment in F e r g l m or the decline of civility in Lvivlocale becomes a very important identity in the framing of problems. Spatial referents, especially outside capital cities, can even exceed the relevance of nationality for discussing problems. This is exemplified by the way in which Russians of Northeast Estonia articulate their suffering not only in national terms but also with reference to their regional distinction. ' Prepared for an international symposium entitled "Regions a mirror reflecting the Slavic-Emsian World," at the Hokkaido University, Slavic Research Center, Japan, July 22-25, 1998. An earlier version of this paper was discussed at the Workshop on Identity Formation and Social Issues in Global Perspective, May 11-15, 1998 organized by the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan as part of the International Institute's grant from the Ford Foundation for "Crossing Borders" . This research has been generously supported by both the Ford Foundation (Ford Foundation Grant No. 950-1 163 )and the National Council for Soviet and East European Research (NCSEER) (Research Contract 8 121 1). I wish to thank my colleagues from the University of Michigan, Estonia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan who worked with me on this project, for without their considerable work, I could not have written this paper. I also wish to thank the May workshop participants, especially John Knodel, Mira Marody, Morgan Liy Ted Hopf, J. Dickinson, Vesna Pusic, Alisher Ilkhamov, Naomi Galtz, Nilufer Gole, Victor Susak, Rein Voorman, Jussi Simpura, Lisa Fein, and Ron Suny for their comments on this paper. I very much appreciate what each of my colleagues had to say, and wish I could have incorporated their wisdom more fully in this paper's revision. THE SPATIAL ARTICULATION OF IDENTITY AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS: ESTONIA, UKRAINE AND UZBEKISTAN THROUGH FOCUS GROUPS