Fadeeva O. P. Transformation of the rural self-government: A Siberian case // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2022. V.7. №2. P. 122-157.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2022-7-2-122-157
Annotation
The permanent transformation of the Russian local self-government comes to its logical end. The trend of management centralization including the ‘upward’ transfer of the powers of local authorities, combined with a decrease in their financial resources, determines the transition to the system of ‘single public authority’ as declared in the new version of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The author’s description of these changes’ impact on the organization of everyday rural life and rural development challenges is based on semi-formalized interviews with representatives of local authorities in three regions of Siberia. According to the respondents, the redistribution of power resources in favor of the regional level and the reduction of the local self-government powers threaten the ability to effectively solve local tasks, primarily those of the rural development. The not always justified transfer of urban (corporate) management standards to rural areas inevitably leads to manipulations with statistical reports and data which serve as the basis for decisions on the distribution of budgetary funds. Administrative reforms did not solve but rather exacerbated both the direct financing of the local authorities work and the allocation of resources for rural development projects. The co-financing of initiative projects by the population and local businesses did not deliver the expected results. ‘Digitalization’ of management activities by uniform patterns which ignore local features rather creates an additional burden on local administrators than saves costs or increases decisions’ efficiency. The identified trends determine new significant risks for rural life and development. To reduce such risks to reasonable limits, we need deep, carefully thought-out and well-balanced changes in the rural self-government institutions.
Keywords
Local self-government, municipal government, rural development, reforms, formal and informal institutions, Omsk Region, Altai Region, Tomsk Region.
About the author
Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 630090 Novosibirsk, Academician Lavrentieva St., 17.
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Round table “In memory of Teodor Shanin” // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №4. P. 39-77.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-4-39-77
Annotation
On the final day of the Chayanov International Conference (October 22–23, 2020), the round table was held in memory of Teodor Shanin, a remarkable agrarian scientist and researcher of A.V. Chayanov’s legacy. The round table was dedicated to both the memory of Professor Shanin who passed away on February 4, 2020, and to his 90th birthday on October 29, 2020. More than 60 scientists and students from different regions of Russia and the world watched presentations of friends, colleagues, and students of Shanin at the round table held online due to the pandemic. The round table was opened by Professor Shulamit Ramon, the widow of Teodor Shanin, who spoke about the worldview dominants of his life and work, his intellectual connection with Russia. The British colleagues of Teodor Shanin—Professors Henry Bernstein, Mark Harrison and Judith Pallot—spoke about directions of the main academic research and discussions which started in the 1970s on social differentiation of the peasantry and referred to the ideological legacy of Lenin and Chayanov; Teodor Shanin made a huge contribution to these debates.
The French scholar Aleksey Berelovich focused on the features of Shanin as a political scientist and a brilliant analyst of the political processes of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Russian colleagues of Teodor Shanin—geographer A.I. Alekseev, historian V.V. Kondrashin, sociologists V.G. Vinogradsky, O.P. Fadeeva, I.E. Shteinberg, A.M. Nikulin, D.M. Rogozin, and A.A. Artamonov—shared their personal memories of Shanin and provided a comprehensive description of his interdisciplinary methodology of agricultural research. Agrarian scientists from South Africa—Boaventura Monjane and Ruth Hall, and India—Sima Purushotaman—emphasized the importance of Shanin’s legacy for the study of the peasant development in the regions of Africa and Asia. Most presentations stressed and analyzed the intellectual connection of Professor Shanin with the Russian agrarian research of Marxists, populists, and the Chayanov school. [/tab]
Keywords
Shanin, peasantry, agrarian sociology, social differentiation, Russia, Marxism, populism, Chayanov [/tab]
About the authors
Alekseev Alexander I., DSc (Geography), Professor, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. 119991, Moscow, Lenin Hills, 1.
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Artamonov Alexander A., Leading Specialist, Center for Agrarian Studies of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 82, Prosp. Vernadskogo, Moscow, Russian Federation, 119571.
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Berelowitch Alexis, University Paris—Sorbonne (Paris IV). France, Paris-5, Rue VictorCousin, 1.
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Bernstein Henry, Emeritus Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). London WC1H 0XG, United Kingdom.
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Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Leading Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hall Ruth, Professor University of the Western Cape, X17, Bellville, 7535.
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Harrison Mark, Emeritus Professor, Department of Economics, University of Warwick. Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
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Kondrashin Viktor V., DSc (History), Professor, Head of Center for Economic History, Institute of Russian History Russian Academy of Science. 117292, Moscow, D. Ul’yanova St., 19.
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Monjane Boaventura, Post-Doc, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
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Nikulin Alexander M., Head of the Chayanov Research Center, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp, 82.
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Pallot Judith, Emeritus Professor, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford. Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom.
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Purushothaman Seema, Professor, Azim Premji University Survey. 66, Burugunte village, Bikkanahalli main road, Sarjapura, 562125 Bengaluru.
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Ramon Shulamit, Professor, School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire. Hatfield AL10 9AB, United Kingdom.
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Rogozin Dmitry M., Senior Researcher, Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting, Russian Presidential Academy for National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), 119034, Moscow, Prechistenskaya Nab., 11 bld.1.
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Shteinberg Ilya E., PhD (Philosophy), Associate Professor, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. Sretenka St., 29, Moscow, 127051, Russia.
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Vinogradsky Valery G., DSc (Philosophy), Senior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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Fadeeva O.P., Nefedkin V.I. Informal public-private partnership as an initiative from below: Rural cases // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №3. P. 131-145.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-3-131-145
Annotation
Local self-government in Russia has seriously degraded in the last decades. The strengthening power vertical and the centralized budgetary policy minimized the ability of rural administrations to finance the construction of social infrastructure facilities. The existing mechanisms and practices of public-private and municipal-private partnerships aim at implementing large projects rather than at contributing to the rural development. The data from the 2018 field research show that the weakening of local self-government is partially restrained by the increased activity of rural residents. For instance, local entrepreneurs spend their money on building schools with the support of local authorities. Based on the regional and ethnic differences in the stories from the Tatar village in the Volga Region and the Russian village in Siberia, the authors identify some common features of projects from below and analyze both their reasons and motives of entrepreneurs in different regions. Such cases of public-private partnerships ‘not by the rules’ should not be considered charity: they have various motives hidden in the relations between the authorities, business and rural population, and they are a result of informal agreements, in which mutual obligations of the participants are not legally set but are demonstrative manifestations of the local identity and of the intention to keep the traditional order.
Keywords
self-government, public-private partnership, rural entrepreneurs, selforganization, Volga Region, Siberia
About the authors
Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Leading Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.
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Nefedkin Vladimir I., PhD (Economics), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Fadeeva O.P., Vinogradsky V.G., Babashkin V.V., Kondrashin V.V., Gorovenko O.V., Shteinberg I.E. In memory of Teodor Shanin // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №1. P. 172-195.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-1-172-195
Annotation
These texts are a tribute of the representatives of peasant studies to their dear teacher and colleague Teodor Shanin (29.10.1930—04.02.2020), an outstanding British sociologist, one of the founders of the global and Russian interdisciplinary studies of rural life (peasant studies), Professor Emeritus of the University of Manchester, founder and President of the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Honorary Editor of the journal Russian Peasant Studies. The texts present the personal memories of sociologists and historians O. Fadeeva, V. Vinogradsky, V. Kondrashin, V. Babashkin, O. Gorovenko and I. Shteinberg about their communication and work with Teodor Shanin. The memories focus primarily on the development of the first Shanin’s sociological project ‘Social Structure of the Soviet (Post-Soviet) Village’ (1990-1994) and describe features of the research methodology, field work, realized and not realized research plans of Shanin and his colleagues. The authors emphasize the intellectual and personal significance of Shanin’s legacy for understanding the further research tasks of contemporary peasant studies, and honor Shanin not only as a talented organizer of scientific projects and methodologist-theoretician of social sciences, but also as a remarkable field researcher and excellent lecturer-teacher. All authors admire the personal virtues of Shanin—his curiosity, keenness of observation, empathy, and the will for both intellectual comprehension and humanistic transformation of society.
Keywords
Teodor Shanin, peasant studies, historical sociology, economic sociology, anthropology, field research, qualitative methods, rural Russia
About the authors
Babashkin Vladimir V., DSc (History), Professor, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 115571, Moscow, Prosp.Vernadskogo, 82.
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Vinogradsky Valery G., DSc (Philosophy), Senior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82.
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Kondrashin Viktor V., DSc (History), Professor, Head of the Center for Economic History, Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 117292, Moscow, D. Ul’yanova St., 19.
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Gorovenko (Ryzhankova) Oksana V., PhD (Economics), Associate Professor, Department of International Business, Belarus State Economic University. Partizansky Prosp., 26, Minsk, 220070, Belarus.
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Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 630090, Novosibirsk, Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17.
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Shteinberg Ilya E., PhD (Philosophy), Associate Professor, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. Sretenka St., 29, Moscow, 127051, Russia.
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Fadeeva O.P., Nefedkin V.I. “Regional dirigisme” and rural self-organization in Tatarstan // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2018. V.3. №3. P. 95-114.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2018-3-3-95-114
Annotation
The article considers a wide range of issues of functioning and development of rural settlements under the permanent reduction of powers and financial independence of local self-government. Based on the data of the sociological expedition to five municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan, the authors show that regional and municipal authorities aim at developing self-organization of local population, which allows to partially offset negative consequences of unitary trends and to expand the possibilities of rural development. The article identifies reasons for the relative failure of regional authorities attempts to create large vertically integrated agricultural holdings in Tatarstan, and features of the large enterprises (former state farms and collective farms) participation in supporting livelihoods and development of rural settlements. Such participation consists of a set of reciprocal, patron-client and market interactions, the ratio between which depends on the specific local historical and ethnocultural context. The authors conclude that even in adverse external conditions the system of rural self-government is capable of initiating self-organization of local communities and of performing functions of a development institution. Thus, the diversity of economic and social practices determined by ethnocultural and religious peculiarities contributes to the accumulation of symbolic, social and cultural capital of rural communities and to its conversion to economic capital, and activates rural-urban exchanges that compensate for the limited resources of rural development.
Keywords
Tatarstan, rural settlement, local practice, self-organization, selfgovernment, dirigisme.
About the authors
Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 630090, Novosibirsk, Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17.
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Nefedkin Vladimir I., PhD (Economics), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 630090, Novosibirsk, Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17.
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Fadeeva O.P. Sketches for the farm project: An Altai palette // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2018. V.3. №1. P. 141-173.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2018-3-1-141-173
Annotation
The article considers a wide range of challenges in the implementation of the “farm project” in Russia. The author refers to the initial assumptions of the Chayanov’s theory of family-labor economy to identify objective difficulties and results of the development of farming in Russia. Based on the state statistics and two All-Russian agricultural censuses, the article presents key trends in the development of peasant (farm) economy as compared to other economic actors. The author conducted interviews with farmers, business leaders and representatives of local authorities in a rural district of the Altai Region in 2013–2017. The results of these field studies are presented as a “Kulunda case”, which allowed to identify some typical success and failure stories. The farmers’ stories prove that the family-consumer orientation limits development opportunities and in many cases determines the cessation of farming; while the entrepreneurial and creative motivation prevails in the stories of successful farmers. Successful family-labor farms are gradually turning into family-entrepreneurial and hire employees. Such farms accumulate and provide their heirs with both tangible and intangible assets, primarily in the form of unique local knowledge, which is the main factor of sustainable family business and its further development.
Keywords
Farm project, agrarian reform in Russia, farmers’ stories, the Altai Region.
About the author
Fadeeva Olga P., PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 630090, Novosibirsk, Prosp. Lavrentieva, 17.
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Russian Peasant Studies. Scientific journal
Center for Agrarian studies of the Russian Presidental Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
- Publisher: Delo Publishing, RANEPA
- Editor-in-Chief: Nikulin Alexander
- ISSN 2500-1809 (Print), ISSN 2949-2564 (Online)
- Founded in 2016
- Frequency: four issues per year (March, Jun, September, December)
- Open Access: All volumes and articles can be downloaded for free in the PDF format.
- Author fees: free of chagre
- Indexation: Russian Science Citation Index, Russian Science Citation Index Core, List of Journals approved by Russian Hihger Attestation committee (Ministry for Sciende and Education), Scopus, UlrichWeb Global Serials Directory, European reference index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIHPLUS), CNKI scholar
- Russian registration number: PI FS77-65824 27-May-2016
Hard copies of the journal can be purchased at the Delo e-store or by subscription in the "Press of Russia" Agency (subscription index - Т81017).
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