Socio-economic Analysis of Transformations of the Ex-factory Area: The Case of Tushino

This study is devoted to the transformation of Tushino district after the closure of main factories that formed the labor specialization in the area. For the past 30 years Tushino underwent significant changes from being a factory area to the comfortable suburban place of living with a variety of new infrastructure and possibilities. The previous studies proved that old residents that were working in factories share collective memory from the past and feel nostalgic about those days. In the perspective of my research I continue the existing project «Present-Past», and my particular interest is how old residents of Tushino resist to the outcome of transformations in the context of consumption. In what way collective memory and ex-factory transformations influence on people’s consumer behavior? To answer the research question qualitative interviews with old residents were conducted, and the collected data was analyzed. As a result of the analysis, I introduced a classification of old Tushino residents according to their ways of coping with ex-factory transformations. First group consolidates residents who resist to transformations individually. The second includes whose who cooperate with municipal authority. This is an opportunity for them to preserve their territorial identity and protect some sights of collective memory in area from destroying. The third group unites all others, who don’t demonstrate signs of resistance. The main assumption that the resistance to ex-factory transformations appears in consumer behavior of old Tushino residents is partly confirmed. The data analysis demonstrated that consumption practices are partly rooted in collective memory elements of residents, such as airplane industry, the launch of spacecraft «Buran» and many other.