Political Narrative of the Early Stage of the Ideology of Siberian Regionalism

In the article, based on a hermeneutic analysis of published sources, presented in numerous journalistic works of the founders of the ideology of the Siberian regionalism N. M. Yadrintsev and G.N. Potanin, the genesis of political discourse in this system of views is reconstructed. The author focuses on the early period of the formation of the political thought of regionalism, which came to a close. 1860s – early. 1870s It is shown that at that time an extensive discussion about the essence, nature and structure of the state unfolded. It has been established that decentralization, autonomy, federation built on the “bottom-up” principle and the concept of equality in relations between the center and the provinces are the paradigms that have acquired the level of political and philosophical generalizations in the works of the leaders of Siberian regionalism. Free self-government, the principle of legal equality of all parts of the state, taking into account the interests of the outskirts for the regionals were integral principles for building the state as an institution of joint and equal community of people. The article also notes that one of the first political science developments of the classics of regionalism was a sharp criticism of the state penitentiary policy of the Russian Empire. In particular, the political and economic vegetation of the Siberian region N. M. Yadrintsev associated with the miscalculations of the country's criminal policy.