Lepetyukhina Ya.O., Neroda M.A. Uferwerk partnership, or implementation of social utopia // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №2. P. 141-150.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-2-141-150
Annotation
The article considers the history and everyday practices of the German housing cooperative partnership Uferwerk located in the countryside not far from Berlin. On the example of the housing cooperative Uferwerk, the authors analyze the social structure, financial and legal features of the contemporary housing partnership that reconstructs traditional relations and at the same time creates new humanistic relations of the community. This partnership transformed and rebuilt the former industrial territory of the metallurgical manufactory into an environmentally attractive space for the community of ninety adults and sixty children of various generations. The article focuses on the successful intergenerational interaction of the members of this housing partnership; considers its search for optimal legal and organizational-financial forms. The authors emphasize that all members of this unique project did not have any special data or skills for creating a cooperative, arranging a joint life, reconstructing real estate or developing a set of rules for the partnership. Thus, the new community developed due to the internal mutual learning based on the active participation of its members in management and decision-making, work and leisure, and on their desire to achieve the old utopian goals of cooperative solidarity in the new social realities of the 21st century.
Keywords
community, family, partnership, cooperative, suburbanization, real estate, ecology, generations, utopia
About the authors
Yana O. Lepetyukhina, PhD Student, Institute of Political Sciences, RheinischWestfälische Technische Hochschule. Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße, 10, 52074, Aachen.
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Maxim A. Neroda, Graphic Designer; Head of the Electric Workshop at the Uferwerk Partnership. Halle 36 e.V., Luisenstr. 16, 14542 Werder (Havel).
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Rogova M.V. Territorial transformation of coastal settlements and their neighborhood // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №2. P. 130-140.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-2-130-140
Annotation
The article considers the rural space transformations determined by the tourist and recreational development. Tourist facilities are usually located either on agricultural lands or in rural settlements, i.e. on the periphery of rural communities—hills or coastal areas. On the most attractive parts of the Lake Baikal coast, in rural communities and their neighborhood, there are new territorial structures developing—cottage settlements. At the same time, there is a reverse process—the increasing abandoned space inside settlements (abandoned houses and houses for sale due to the youth outflow to the city, growing labor migration). The article presents the results of the study of the changing geographical and cultural landscape of the village, of its increasing institutional and environmental challenges. On the agricultural land, there are new tourist and recreational facilities, which leads the multi-structural rural economy to a single recreational path and changes the perception of this trend by the rural population. Before, tourist services constituted only one survival strategy in the multi-structural system, while today the development of the entrepreneur stratum with recreational tasks does not correspond to the existing system of values. This is no longer an integral part of the rural economy; it is a commercial business competing with the rural population. Moreover, tourist sites on the agricultural land have huge institutional costs and support the corrupt system of land relations. The article is based on the field research conducted in rural communities of the Baikal region in 2005–2007 and 2011–2018.
Keywords
land grabbing, new territorial structures, multi-structural rural economy, rural transformation, tourism and recreation
About the author
Marina V. Rogova, PhD (Geography), Junior Researcher, Institute of Geography named after V.B. Sochava, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. UlanBatorskaya St, 1, Irkutsk, 664033.
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Gusakov T.Yu. Rural Crimea and its agroholdings // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №2. P. 106-129.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-2-106-129
Annotation
The increase in number of agroholdings in the Russian regions changes the paths of rural development and attracts the scientific interest to interaction of business groups with the authorities and local communities. Concentration of agricultural production in the hands of large companies has regional peculiarities determined by the level of integration: there are regions with a high share of holdings in the structure of agricultural production (for example, the Belgorod and Voronezh Regions) and, on the contrary, regions with a high share of agricultural production in households (Dagestan, Crimea, Tuva). The article considers the Republic of Crimea as a participant of the emerging holding structure of the agricultural production, but the increase in the share of agricultural enterprises is accompanied by the dominance of the informal household economy. The author also considers the influence of agroholdings on the development of rural territories and agricultural production on the example of the largest Crimean producer of agricultural products.
Keywords
agriculture, rural area, agroholding, rural development, integrated business group, Republic of Crimea
About the author
Timur Y. Gusakov, Junior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Vernadskogo Prosp., 82, Moscow, 119571.
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Vinogradsky V.G., Vinogradskaya O.Ya., Nikulina E.S. Ecology of the rural world as an object of sociological research // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №1. P. 125-142.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-1-125-142
Annotation
The article considers rural environmental issues as an object of sociological research and emphasizes the need to conduct surveys of expert communities. Such an approach allows to identify, follow and analyze the development of various environmental practices typical for rural residents, and to evaluate innovations and initiatives at both households and settlement level. The authors insist on the need to use the previously tested expert questionnaire and to rely on the cases that meet the specific requirements of the study. For instance, in the considered case, the authors faced methodological difficulties when discussed rationality of the environment use and interdependence of available natural resources and everyday human activities. Thus, the article presents a ‘field-tested’ methodology of sociological research focusing on the in-depth analysis of environmental issues in rural worlds.
Keywords
ecology, rural world, sociological research, qualitative methodology, informal social-ecological practices, rural households, rural residents, natural environment
About the authors
Valery G. Vinogradsky, 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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Olga Y. Vinogradskaya, Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82.
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Ekaterina S. Nikulina , Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; 119571, Moscow, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82.
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Sauer S., Meszaros G. Land struggle in Brazil under the Workers’ Party governments // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №1. P. 93-124.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-1-93-124
Annotation
The article considers the state agrarian policy during the presidency of Lula da Silva (2003–2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011–2016). This policy was controversial: on the one hand, the Workers’ Party has always supported land reforms and social movements in the agrarian sphere, but, on the other hand, it began to make political and electoral alliances with large agribusiness. Therefore, more than a decade of generally progressive activities determined only insignificant changes in the implementation of key government programs. In some cases, there were even outright failures such as attempts to expand land expropriation to provide landless family farms with land. The political cycle ended with the collapse of electoral alliances and with the impeachment of Rousseff in 2016, which proved political and tactical failures of the Workers’ Party. The article considers government decisions, historical causes of land conflicts, struggles for land and territory, challenges in mobilizing supporters in this struggles. The authors emphasize the content of political discussions (especially under the criminalization of social movements which makes them illegal), economic disputes about the role of agribusiness, and the fierce struggle for land and territorial rights under the progressive governments of the Workers’ Party.
Keywords
Brazil, Workers' Party, agrarian reform, rural poverty, social movements, agribusiness
About the authors
Sauer Sérgio , PhD (Sociology), Professor, University of Brasilia (UnB). 70.847-080 SQN 406, Bl. H, Apt. 305, Brasilia/DF, Brazil.
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George A. Meszaros, PhD (Sociology), Professor, University of Warwick, School of Law, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
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Gusakov T.Yu. The multistructure of the contemporary ethnic region in Russia: Archaization, agrarianization and migration (on the example of the Republic of Tyva) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №4. P. 76-95.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-4-76-95
Annotation
The article considers the features of the contemporary rural development of the Russian ethnic region on the example of the Republic of Tyva. In 2017, according to the official statistics, it was the poorest Russian region by the share of the rural population below the poverty line. This situation was determined by a number of factors exacerbating Tuva’s economic depression: its being a periphery and its remoteness from economic centers, stagnation and impossibility to revitalize the industrial complex, destruction of the agricultural sector, a high share of the shadow economy, and so on. The reason for the economic stagnation is the agrarian path of Tyva chosen by the regional elites, which consists of the support for small archaic agricultural production as an ethnic type of activity. The article describes the vectors of the contemporary rural development of the Republic of Tyva, its economic and ethnic-social features, and changes determined by the large transfers from the federal budget to the regional economy. Today, there is spatial polarization and rural depopulation in the depressed agrarian regions, and the cities remain the main centers of population concentration (mainly the city of Kyzyl).
Keywords
agriculture, rural settlement, ethnic region, migration, spatial mobility, Republic of Tyva
About the author
Timur Y. Gusakov, Junior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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Changes of footpaths in rural areas as an indicator of the rural lifestyle transformations
Oct 06 2019Pivovar G.A., Savoskul M.S. Changes of footpaths in rural areas as an indicator of the rural lifestyle transformations // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №3. P. 156-166.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-3-156-166
Annotation
The article presents the results of the field study in the Ivankovsky rural settlement of the Yasnogorsk District in the Tulа Region. The case study proves the changes of footpaths in rural areas, which can serve as an indicator of the transformations of the rural lifestyle and an indicator of the transformations of the rural areas functions. The study is an example of the micro-geographical-social approach that is not popular in the Russian geography. It is based on in-depth interviews with permanent and summer residents in rural settlements. In-depth interviews were also conducted with representatives of the administration of the Yasnogorsk District and Ivankovsky rural settlement. Rural roads (footpaths) are indicators of the changes in economic activities of rural residents. Due to the increasing motorization of rural areas, footpaths become an outdated way to connect rural areas. Rural footpaths respond very quickly to changes in the economic landscape—respectively, they grow or disappear. Moreover, the growth of the road network indicates the emergence of new forms of rural activities as new residents move to rural areas and use rural territories differently, i.e. change the types of use of rural areas.
Keywords
Russian rural areas, walking (pedestrian) paths (footpaths), lifestyle transformations
About the authors
Galina A. Pivovar, Manager of Educational Programs, Moscow School of Management Skolkovo. Novaya St., 100, Skolkovo, Odintsovsky District, Moscow Region, 43025.
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Maria S. Savoskul, DSc (Geography), Head of the Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninsky Gori, 1, GSP-1, Moscow, 119991.
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Vinogradskaya O.Ya. Why and from what townspeople move to the village: Phenomenology and practice // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №3. P. 140-155.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-3-140-155
Annotation
The article considers reasons that determine the very possibility of the townspeople moving to the village for permanent residence. The non-standard grammatical form of the question in the title in Russian stresses the double context of the Russian word “why—from what”: on the one hand, it is a pronoun with a preposition (from what) indicating a certain phenomenon; on the other hand, it is an interrogative pronoun (why), a synonym of the adverb “wherefore” asking about reasons for moving to the village. In recent decades, the scale and speed of the civilizational development have changed the functionality of the place of residence, which makes the researchers reconsider their previous approaches to the study of the reasons of migration from the city to the countryside. However, in contemporary sociological works, both Russian and Western, little attention is paid to the issue of the townspeople moving to permanent residence in the countryside, as compared to the studies of the reverse process—the migration of villagers to the city. Based on the analysis of the interviews data, the article focuses on the reasons that determine the possible and necessary decisions of the townspeople to choose a new place of residence under the current conditions of everyday rural life. The author emphasizes that such reasons, which explain a seemingly ordinary and rational fact of the townspeople moving to the village for permanent residence, help to understand the evolution of life practices in both rural and urban social systems.
Keywords
townspeople, village, former townspeople, villagers, migration, everyday practices, rural world, phenomenon, fact
About the author
Olga Y. Vinogradskaya, Senior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, 119571.
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Gusakov T.Yu. Municipal reform of 2015 in Ukraine: Implementation and first results // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №2. P. 138-159.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-2-138-159
Annotation
Local self-government is a structuring element of the institutional environment; thus, its functioning determines the development of territories. The trend of municipal reforming appeared in the countries of Western Europe as early as the mid-1970s due to the general federalization and the empowerment of local authorities. Later similar reforms began in the post-Soviet countries. In 2015, Ukraine adopted the Conception of reforming local self-government and territorial organization of power. According to this Conception, the hierarchy of state power was to be optimized and a new administrative-territorial structure reflecting the contemporary system of social and economic relations in the regions of Ukraine was to be formed. The article considers the evolution of the administrative-territorial and municipal structure of the Ukrainian regions, analyzes the international experience of the reform, and identifies the essence of the municipal reform of 2015 highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
Keywords
local self-government, local authorities, municipal reform, state administration, system of management, community, institutional environment
About the author
Timur Y. Gusakov, Junior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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The spatial structure of kinship (on the example of the Zharkovsky settlement of the Tver Region)
Aug 07 2019Alekseev A.I., Efimova O.Yu., Tkachenko A.A. The spatial structure of kinship (on the example of the Zharkovsky settlement of the Tver Region) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №2. P. 128-137.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-2-128-137
Annotation
The article considers the spatial structure of relationships of families in the peripheral settlement Zharkovsky (3 thousand inhabitants) with their children and relatives in other cities and villages. There are 180 members in 90 surveyed families of the village that has been losing population for the last 50 years, and its “diaspora” has spread from Dublin to Vladivostok and from Murmansk to Amman. The children of Zharkovsky’s residents are mostly students in two nearest regional centers—Tver and Smolensk, and also in Moscow and Saint Petersburg; educational institutions in medium-sized and small cities are less popular. Other relatives live in the same cities, but are much more dispersed in the cities of Siberia, the Kaliningrad Region, Belarus, etc. Most of the households under study consist of middle-aged parents or, more often, only of a mother, or elderly parents, whose children have already left the village. The spatial structure of kinship is usually “centrifugal”: the majority of relatives in other places are those who left the village. However, sometimes children live in the village while parents live in other places: these are children who left the villages of the Zharkovsky district, in which their elderly parents still live. Thus, there is also a “centripetal” structure of kinship ties: some residents of the village are recent immigrants from other places.
Keywords
kinship, spatial structure, Tver Region, households, rural-urban migration
About the authors
Alexander I. Alekseev, DSc (Geography), Professor, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. 119991, Moscow, Lenin Hills, 1.
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Olga Y. Efimova, Student, Faculty of Geography and Ecology, Tver State University. Tver, Proshina St., 3, bldg. 2.
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Alexander A. Tkachenko, DSc (Geography), Professor, Faculty of Geography and Geographical Ecology, Tver State University. Tver, Proshina St., 3, bldg. 2.
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