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2023. Vol.8. №4.

“Fairyland”: Kin’s domain as a place of utopia and experiment

Apr 09 2024

Andreeva J.O. “Fairyland”: Kin’s domain as a place of utopia and experiment // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2023. V.8. №4. P. 121-136.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-121-136

Annotation

The article focuses on kin’s domains — plots of at least one hectare, which became so called since the early 2000s, after the publication of the series of books by Vladimir Megre — Ringing Cedars of Russia. Megre described his meeting with the Siberian hermit Anastasia and her nostalgic stories about the kin’s domain settlements of the Vedic Russia. Readers, inspired by this narrative of the ‘golden age’, tried to create this utopia in different Russian regions — according to the followers, there are more than 500 such settlements. Kin’s domain is usually organized on agricultural land and needs the entire infrastructure, so practical skills, technical knowledge and creativity are valued by the participants. In many ways, such settlements follow the global trend of ecovillages as laboratories of sustainable development, autonomy, harmonious coexistence of man and nature, spiritual development and healing. The author shows how the economic and ideological crisis of the 1990s determined the rise of alternative teachings and the enthusiasm of builders of a bright future. At the same time, many active participants of first ecovillages and kin’s domains followed the Soviet discourse, emphasizing the significance of Soviet morality and creative self-activity. The article is based on the field studies conducted in 2008–2021 in kin’s domain settlements and at the meetings of Anastasians, and on the Internet sources.

Keywords

Kin’s domains, ecovillage, Ringing Cedars, intentional communities, leadership, utopia, experiment, commune, New Age, do-it-yourself.

About the author

Andreeva Julia O., PhD (History), Independent Researcher. 2-ya liniya Vasilyevskogo ostrova, 53, St.-Petersburg.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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2017. Vol.2. №2

“From a ‘commune member’ to the economic agent—a farmer, an ‘owner and hard worker’...”

Jul 06 2017

Gordon A.V., Nikulin A.M. “From a ‘commune member’ to the economic agent—a farmer, an ‘owner and hard worker’...” // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2017. V.2. №2. P. 33-52.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2017-2-2-33-52

Annotation

The journal “Russian Peasant Studies” starts a new section “An interview with a researcher” to discuss with the leading Russian and foreign scientists the interdisciplinary problems of the history and the current issues of peasant studies and agrarian science. The first interview was conducted by Alexander Nikulin, the editor of the journal, with the Russian historian Alexander Gordon, the head of the East and South-East Asia section of the INION RAS. He made a significant contribution to the development of Russian peasant studies and their integration in the world historical and cultural tradition. The interview questions consider the relationship of agrarian science and peasant studies, the role of regional factors in the development of peasant studies in France, the Middle and Far East, Southeast Asia and Russia, the contribution of Russian and foreign scientists, writers and intellectuals to the institutionalization of peasant studies, and the current strategies in their development. However, the interview rather focuses on the scientific biography of Alexander Gordon—a researcher and a historian who emphasized the importance of the commune in peasant culture and of the peasant identity as a land owner and a hard worker.

Keywords

commune, peasantry, agrarian reforms, peasant studies, Asia, Europe, the USSR, Russia

About the authors

Gordon Alexander V., DSc (History), Head of the East and South-East Asia Branch, INION of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Nikulin Alexander M., PhD (Economics), Head of the Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Russia, 119571, Moscow, prosp. Vernadskogo, 82.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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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)

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