Spatial Factors of Conflict Potential in the Use of Urban Symbolic Geopolitical Capital in Russia

The purpose of the work is to identify spatial factors of conflict potential in the use of urban symbolic geopolitical capital in Russia, which is understood here as a set of accumulated geopolitical meanings (connotations) of the city, territories and individual places. The symbolic resources of the environment, namely, urban signs or symbol carriers have unique properties that give an advantage to the actors of symbolic politics who use them in the competitive struggle. The meanings, values and emotions that these symbols and signs are endowed with can have both positive and negative connotations in the perceptions of different groups. The same symbol (historical person or event) can have opposite connotations in different places. These features are actively used in symbolic politics at different spatial levels. Out of more than a hundred cases of modern conflicts using geopolitical symbols and memorial signs dedicated to them in Russian cities collected from media materials, 20 were analyzed in the work with a special methodology, relating to the symbols of the pre-socialist era and the period of the Civil War and foreign intervention of 1917–1922. The work presents an analysis of the significance of various local geopolitical symbols and signs for the formation of geopolitical symbolic capital and its use in modern Russian urban and regional symbolic policy both in constructive and creative practice, and in conflicted interactions and even destructive practices. It is concluded that location changes the substance of conflict over local geopolitical symbols and signs in accordance with the following factors: confinement of events associated with the symbol to the place; presence and features of settlement pattern of conflicting identities/social groups associated with the symbol; characteristics of public exposure and potential audience reach; competitiveness of the place; hierarchy of locations; spatial structure of ownership, and relations with regards to power and influence.