The dissolution of the Soviet Union has opened up new processes of building and rebuilding collective identities in the Russian North. Contests over identity have become highly politicised and are seen by many inhabitants of Siberia as an instrument to secure access to resources and cultural property. The contributors to this volume explore these controversial trends by paying close attention to the diverse social backgrounds of the inhabitants. The underlying issues, particularly the importance of >ethnicity< vis-à-vis other types of collective identity, are placed into a comparative perspective through the inclusion of additional case studies from neighboring regions