Tatarization of the City: Ethnocultural Youth Identity Management in Kazan, Tatarstan

The youth as 'constructors of the nation' in postsocialist multicultural societies, such as Tatarstan, are confronted with different identity projects; be it official nation-building discourses or the impact of globalized youth cultures. In this article, the youth are not seen just as consumers of such official or global 'identity outlines' but as actors in a public sphere where identities are articulated and negotiated. Offering examples of the visualization of 'Tatarness' and ethnocultural boundaries through voice and body by Tatar youth scenes in Kazan, this article aims to analyze the construction of urban Tatar youth culture as a means of the identity management strategies of Tatar youth scenes in order to 'recapture' urban (and political) space by a 'Tatarization of the city'.