Trotsuk I. V. A few methodological notes based on the field observations of rural human capital in the Russia’s Non-Black Earth Region // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №2. P. 6-19.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-2-6-19

Annotation

The article presents some methodological considerations on the possibilities and limitations of the qualitative approach (repeated case studies in the specific Russian region) for the sociological assessment of human capital. In the first part of the article, the author considers the Russian tradition of rural studies as combining two analytical ‘optics’ — sociological/ethnographic observations of local realities based on various combinations of qualitative techniques and a strong anthropological/ peasant-studies emphasis with large-scale social surveys aimed at macro-descriptions of agrarian reforms, rural social/human capital and agro-industrial complex under the persistent trends of social-spatial differentiation. In the second part, the author mentions the key possibilities and limitations of case studies for assessing the state and prospects of rural human capital in the most depressed rural region of Russia, focusing on the role of entrepreneurs in formal and informal support of the local rural economy and communities in cooperation with municipal and regional authorities. In the final part, the author emphasizes typologies as the analytical result of rural case studies (especially the repeated ones) and provides examples — ‘types’ of the local agricultural producer relationships with the rural settlement’s authorities and community (as the basis for preserving rural human capital) and ‘types’ of the rural entrepreneurs’ biographical trajectories (as the basis for the generational continuity of this differentiated rural stratum).

Keywords

(Repeated) case study, field research, typology, analytical generalizations, rural entrepreneur, rural human capital, positive and negative trends, local authorities, rural community, formal and informal interaction.

About the author

Trotsuk Irina V., DSc (Sociology), Professor, Sociology Department, RUDN University; Senior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Intercenter, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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The article was submitted on 08.02.2024.

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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