Sheludkov A.V., Rasskazov S.V. Mapping multistructural rural economy: Suburban and peripheral areas of the Tyumen Region // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2017. V.2. №1. pp. 102-114.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2017-2-1-102-114

Annotation

The article considers the geographical prerequisites for the development of multistructural  rural economy. The authors use departmental statistics and the data of the Federal  State Statistics Service to show the differences of social-economic landscapes  in remote and close to centers rural areas. Such differences determine the domination  of particular economic agents, and the specialization of rural areas by forms and  sectors of agriculture. For instance, commodity production, agribusiness and private  farms concentrate around the cities; here a suburban area of agriculture is developing  supported by the pendulum migration; large enterprises are fully integrated in the  formal market and win the competition for land resources, especially in grain production,  while the farmers can benefit from the development of service industries or narrow  economic niches. In the peripheral areas of the southeast, there are smallholdings,  peasant farms and cooperatives. People use household plots and free land to develop  dairy and meat husbandry, to grow potatoes and vegetables, and to produce honey.  The owners of large household plots can be considered potential farmers, but due to  the high institutional barriers they retain a semi-legal status. In general, settlements of  the sub-region teeter on the edge of formal (cooperatives and peasant farms) and informal  (smallholdings, secondhand dealers, etc.) economies. Large-scale enterprises  can also work here, but usually they act as external players exploiting resources of the  periphery and not taking care of local communities. However, the situation is not static,  its vectors of development include economic and social risks associated with the gradual  displacement of small and medium agricultural producers by large enterprises, and  with the dependence of peripheral farms on the intermediary structures. At the same  time, the multistructural economy creates new opportunities such as economic specialization  of villages and diversification of rural economy. This research was conducted  as a part of the complex research project of the Council of municipalities of the Tyumen  region. 

Keywords

multi-structural economy, rural economy, rural settlements, rural municipalities, social-economic polarization, center-periphery structure

About the authors

Alexander V. Sheludkov, Analyst, Association “Council of Municipalities of the Tyumen Region”, post-graduate student of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Staromonetniy per., 29. Moscow, Russia 119017.
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Sergei V. Rasskasov, PhD (Geography), Associate Professor, Department of Modern History, Tyumen State University. 6 Volodarskogo St. 625003 Tyumen, Russia.
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