Local identity of single-industry towns' population (case study of the town of Sokol)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of local identity of the single-industry towns' urban community. The proposed structural model of local identity includes the following components: the city image, the city's future and development prospects assessment and the residents' migration intentions. The characteristics of local identity of the urban community of the town of Sokol, the Vologda Oblast, based on the results of a sociological research (group interviews and a questionnaire surveys) is presented in the work as a case study. The empirical base of the study included group interviews with local residents conducted in August 2018; the data of sociological survey “Socio-structural effects of civilizational changes of the Russian society” organized on the territory of the town of Sokol in the Vologda Oblast in October 2018. Method of measurement is the survey by place of the respondents' residence. The volume of sample is 500 people aged 18 years and older. Sampling error does not exceed 3%. The representativeness of sociological information was provided by using a multi-stage sample with quota selection of observation units by sex and age composition of the population; random respondents' selection by the interviewers according to set quotas. The results of the study established differences between cognitive and behavioral components of the local identity of the urban community of the town of Sokol indicating the predominance of the image of a Soviet city model in the minds of the residents which is closely associated with the activity profile of the enterprise, but does not coincide with the actual employment practices and satisfaction of social and cultural needs. The changes having occurred in recent decades have made significant adjustments to the identity of single-industrytowns' residents; the periphery became a local curse and is associated with remoteness, backwardness and stagnation; the proletarian identity has lost all social significance and prestige and the life-affirming image of a specialized enterprise has transformed into a corporate identity with a clearly recognizable corporate culture of business structures which are far from specific territorial references.