Urban Transformation and Experiences of ‘Becoming Marginal’ in Russia

Abstract

Urban transformation in the post-socialist city is connected to comprehensive debates. This paper steers the reader through these, emphasising three contentions that serve to clarify the approach to two interconnected questions: How do people give meaning to urban transformation? In which ways does an analysis of societal change in a peripheral city in pre-war Russia contribute to debates on global urbanism? The paper is structured in three main parts, beginning with the review of the post-socialist city literature. The focus in this study is on experiences, bringing a more human perspective on urban transformation in combination with analysis of structural dimensions impeding on the everyday. In the second part, Togliatti is introduced as a research site and details on data collection are provided. The paper contributes empirically with a study of urban transformation in the auto-town Togliatti in the Samara region southeast of Moscow, Russia. The third part is devoted to interlocutors’ perspectives and the emergence of the narrative of ‘becoming marginal’. In conclusion, becoming marginal is a narrative that gives meaning to the historical conjuncture and the grievances people reflect on as they reason about individual life trajectories. While place-specific, these experiences link to global (urban) discussions on marginality and precarity. The paper underscores that making sense of experiences means to reflect on these in context, and in a final discussion, it reflects how much more difficult such research has become after Russia’s military attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022.