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On the methodological significance of the concept of “topogenesis” for conflictological analysis of the regional ethno-political situations in the South of Russia

Yurchenko I.V.,

Federal Research Center Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rostov-on-Don, Russia; Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia
elibrary_id: 519048 | ORCID: 000-0002-4834-9338 |

Article received: 2024.06.06 10:45. Accepted: 2025.07.08 10:45


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2026.02.11
EDN: OPFNHV

Rubric: Theory and methodology of political studies

For citation:

Yurchenko I.V. On the methodological significance of the concept of “topogenesis” for conflictological analysis of the regional ethno-political situations in the South of Russia. – Polis. Political Studies. 2026. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2026.02.11. EDN: OPFNHV (In Russ.)

Abstract

The article seeks to demonstrate the significance of the scientific category of “topogenesis” for the methodology of political regional studies and conflictological analysis of ethnopolitical processes in modern society. The theoretical framework for analyzing the subregional ethnopolitical situation in the South of Russia is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates elements of political conflictology, geopolitics and political geography. Particular emphasis is placed on discourse analysis of the public sphere of power relations, that perform the function of preserving the state as an internally unified, self-sufficient system in relation to the environment. The work emphasizes the importance of studying technologies for the formation of a national political and managerial strategy, which is meaningfully accumulated by a set of semantic meanings that are productive for studying the processes of strengthening all-Russian identity, as a mechanism for preventing interethnic conflicts. Considering the need to provide a more adequate vision of the real political picture of the world, the article analyzes cognitive tools through the concept of “topogenesis” for regional studies of the Russian political process. The key problem is to determine the essential components of adaptation processes that actualize the transition from passive methods that ensure social adaptation in new conditions to building a system of productive interaction of a certain social community with the internal components of the social system and the environment external to a given state. Adaptation, as the basis for high-quality, productive stability of an integral and, at the same time, contradictory, conflict-generating social process, is directly related to the concept of “topogenesis”, but has not yet received due attention in theoretical and applied developments in political regionalism. The category “topogenesis” focuses on the importance of adaptation mechanisms for choosing and implementing a political strategy in the context of a global restructuring of the world order and internal transformations under the influence of geopolitical changes. The relevance of this topic is reinforced by the objectives of the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation through 2030, which aims to create optimal forms of territorial organization, a balanced system of the spatial environment for both the regions and the country as a whole.

Keywords

methodology, political regionalism, topogenesis, geographical determinism, South of Russia, political strategy, interdisciplinary approach.

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