Actualization of the concept "border" in modern Russian reality

The authors analyze the reasons for the actualization of the concept “border” in Russian society. The introductory part of the article is devoted to the consideration of the concept as a sociocultural phenomenon, its instrumental capabilities in identifying the implicit structure. The authors further define the aspects that contribute to the conceptualization of the word “border”, and identify correlated concepts and ideas. It is emphasized that this concept is now used in various discourses, but most often in political ones. The next section of the article analyzes the geopolitical and socio-cultural factors that contributed to the transformation of this concept into one of the sense-forming factors in the conceptosphere of Russian/Russian civilization. The authors emphasize that the problem of territorial belonging is always connected with the question of the space of power. In this regard, the concepts correlating with it are revealed: “frontier” as a special socio - cultural space, “identity”, “own-alien”. It is noted that under the influence of the philosophy of postmodernism there is a process of transformation of the last antinomy and leveling of its polar components, its transition to the tolerant formulation “own - another”. In conclusion, the authors consider the potency of using the concept “border” to identify trends and structures (core - periphery) of modern Russian socio-cultural space.