Cherepanova E. A., Shirokova P. A., Nazarenko G. A., Prusikhin O. E., Krutov O. D., Aleksandrov E. A., Koldobskaya N. A. The impact of path dependence on the adaptation of old-developed industrial regions of the Lower Oka Region to changing economic conditions in the post-Soviet period // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 165-184.

EDN: RHYULJ

Annotation

The article considers the influence of “path dependence” on the adaptation of old industrial territories of the Nizhny Novgorod Region to the changing economic conditions in the post-Soviet period. The authors identify two different development trajectories — in the northern part (Pavlovsky and Vachsky districts) with a predominance of small business and handicraft production and in the southern part (Vyksa, Kulebaki, Navashino) with a predominance of large enterprises. The study is based on interviews, statistical and archival data. The comparative analysis showed that northern territories managed to adapt by restructuring and diversification of production based on the historical handicraft traditions, while southern territories maintained a monocentric model with the city-forming enterprise determining economic and social life. The authors identify three types of “blocking effects” (functional, political, and cognitive) that make it diff icult to diversify the economy in southern regions. On the contrary, in northern regions, a developed network of cooperating small enterprises contributes to the sustainability and flexibility of the local economy. Thus, historical specialization of territories still determines their development trajectories.

Keywords

Old industrial territories, path dependency, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Lower Oka Region, small towns, single-industry towns, ferrous metallurgy.  

About the authors

Ekaterina A. Cherepanova, Senior Analyst, Center for Strategic Research, Gazetny Per., 3–5, bldg. 1, Moscow, 125009, Russia.
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Polina A. Shirokova, Independent Researcher. Sitnikova St., 2, Balashikha, Moscow Region, 143923, Russia.
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Grigory A. Nazarenko, PhD Student, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Oleg E. Prusikhin, PhD Student, Senior Engineer, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Oleg D. Krutov, PhD Student, Senior Engineer, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Evgeny A. Aleksandrov, Master’s Student, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Natalia A. Koldobskaya, PhD (Geography), Associate Professor, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninskie Gory, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Aleksandrov K.M. “Look out or you’ll be harmed!”. On the social-political reasons for Stalin’s collectivization // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №3. P. 70-96.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-3-70-96

Annotation

The article presents the results of the comprehensive analysis of the negative consequences of socialist transformations in the Soviet village for both society and national economy. The article is based on a wide range of sources and works on the reasons for collectivization in the USSR. The historiographic findings provide grounds for broad discussions that take into account different aspects, approaches and concepts—depending on the assessments of the priorities of I.V. Stalin and other leaders of the CPSU (b) at the turn of the 1920s—1930s: from the necessary and forced development of the industry at the expense of the rural population exploitation to the establishment of the personal dictatorship of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and eradication of the peasant economic independence. The author suggests to search for an answer to the conceptual question about the meaning and reasonability of collectivization not so much in the economic conditions as in the social realities of the late 1920s as related to the peculiarities of the one-party state and to the sharp deterioration in the political situation under the grain-procurement crises determined by the artificial restrictions on the private initiative in the previous period. The main beneficiaries of the collective-farm system, which was imposed on the village by the unprecedented violence, were thousands of appointees of the CPSU (b), who sought to preserve their power, privileges and state property in their possession by introducing the ‘second serfdom’ and the all-Union system of forced labor, which put an end to the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Keywords

collectivization, collective farms, peasant resistance, I.V. Stalin, V.M. Molotov, appointees, XVII Congress of the CPSU (b), grain procurement crises

About the author

Kirill M. Aleksandrov, PhD (History), Associate Professor, St. Philaret’s Christian Orthodox Institute. Pokrovka St., 29, Moscow, 105062, Russia.
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