The article discusses a field study of the “Rescue Hangar” — a day care center in Moscow, where people in need can get low-threshold help. The article illustrates how the “Hangar” is integrated into the urban environment and what this proximity means for both its visitors and for the people who live and work in the area. The main feature of the “Hangar’s” location and its visitors in this area is invisibility — existing outside the field of view and attention of local residents. The article describes three reasons for this invisibility: the appearance of the visitors, which is not significantly different from that of other passersby; the limited number of potential “meeting points” between the “Hangar’s” visitors and local residents; and the “Hangar’s” hidden location, which is in a space cut off from its surroundings and is not perceived as either a place of assistance or a dangerous area. These three factors are both a drawback and an advantage of the “Hangar”. It is hidden both from the eyes of those who live and work nearby and from those who come seeking help. On the one hand, this makes it harder for people to access assistance, and on the other hand, it prevents city residents from forming any preconceived notions about what a place that helps the homeless looks like or what the homeless themselves look like. This ultimately has a positive effect on the organization’s work but may possibly reinforce the stigmatization of homeless people throughout the city.

The consequences of geopolitical turbulence are vividly manifested at state borders, influencing the functional mode of the border itself and the everyday life of borderland communities. The ongoing socio-cultural transformations and the border residents’ reflections on new life conditions can be explored through narratives of memory, which are being shaped by global challenges. The article focuses on the dynamics of historical memory in the borderlands of Russia and Finland, particularly in the context of the closure of the state border and the crisis in interstate relations. Using existing concepts in border studies and historical memory research, the author attempts to analyze narratives about the past cross-border interactions in the Karelian regions bordering Finland, specifically examining the Sortavala municipal district and the Kostomuksha urban district. The study argues that shifts in historical memory can be traced through an examination of narrative density and the clarity of categories of “others”, constructed based on interactions with narrative agents and the remoteness of these categories in the past. It further analyzes the role of reflective and restorative nostalgia in shaping perceptions of the memory culture among residents of neighboring countries. The author also differentiates levels of cross-border relations at both grassroots and interstate levels, describing different catalysts and motives for interaction. The paper also examines changing significance of the border itself and its borderland status, which determines strategies for social adaptation to new conditions in these areas. The first part of the article examines historical events in the Sortavala and Kostomuksha district that form the basis for memory narratives. The second part consists of three chapters and analyzes the narratives identified through interviews which were collected by the author in 2023–2024.

The paper is based on the results of field research conducted by the author in the United Republic of Tanzania in November 2023, focusing on the issue of nation formation in the multiethnic state. The study was carried out in Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo cities, resulting in the collection of 33 formal and informal interviews in English and Swahili. The key aim of the research was to find out whether the national component of self-identity has taken precedence for Tanzanian citizens, or if local identities, ethnic or regional, remain more significant. Tanzania is characterized by very high rate of urbanization, and making the issue of changing identity under the new conditions especially relevant for understanding the adaptation mechanisms of migrants in the cities. It is important to note that in Tanzanian cities the majority of residents are at most, second- or third-generation urban residents. Young people usually move to the city alone, without family. Those who were born in the city usually have only parents and siblings living there. Thus, connections to the culture of one’s region of origin are often broken, leading to a search for new affiliations, which frequently involves a shift in self-identity.

In the article we will examine issues of the transformation and significance of ethnic identity; the relationship between ethnic, regional, and national levels of self-identity; attitudes towards ethno-racial minorities; and the future of indigenous Tanzanian cultures, languages, and traditions within the multicultural environment of the city.

The article reflects on the author’s three-year work on corporate social responsibility project “Centers of Local Community” (CLC), based on “Shops near Home” program of the “Pyaterochka” retail chain. In 2020 and 2021, the project concept was developed by “Pyaterochka” together with the consulting firm “Tsentsiper” and with support from the integrator You Social. In-depth interviews were conducted, field research data were collected, and pilot projects were implemented — first for five stores, then for fifty stores. In 2022 and 2023, the project expanded up to 354 stores across 9 regions with the help of two NGOs (“Good City of Petersburg” and “Good Stories”). With the participation of the “Charity Culture” Foundation, a study was conducted to identify social impacts of the project, which included interviews and focus groups with the project’s key stakeholders (11/28/2022 – 01/12/2023). Based on the assessment of the study results, the project was further expanded to 1,350 CLCs. The collected data demonstrate the transformation of typical scenarios for how stores are used as a workplace for employees and as shopping locations for customers due to the introduction of the new social project. The article also describes the mechanism of how corporate social responsibility projects emerge, including how the company selects projects for investment and the role that social anthropology and ethnographic methods play in this process.