A highway anthropologist: A study of Profsoyuznaya Street in Moscow

Abstract

The paper analyzes an experience of an applied anthropological study of a major arterial road — Profsoyuznaya Street (including a part of 60 Years of October [Revolution] Avenue) conducted by the Artel' group of applied anthropologists. This case is interesting due to the fact that such an extended space to research upon is non-typical for anthropological focus, and creating and testing instruments for investigating the arterial road as a whole, as well as for investigating certain parts of it that proved to be of special research interest, was in order to complete the assignment successfully. Two focus points were developed: “micro” (inclusion of the street into local city life, which could be traced via a number of area-specific cases) and “macro” (the whole arterial road as a coherent system). All the methods that have been utilized are described and analyzed in the paper: namely, social media analysis, various types of interviewing, territory mapping (mental mapping); it is also highlighted which methods proved to be effective or, on the contrary, problematic and why. Apart from research design, building communication within the task team of anthropologists and their personal self-consciousness and self-reflection are crucially important in applied anthropology. We were able to express complications of anthropological work on a major arterial road in an essay on hypermosaicism of the studied space that complements the case analysis.