regional development

Nov 25 2022

Gusakov T. Yu. Agrarian alternative for Yamal: Agriculture and indigenous population // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2022. V.7. №3. P. 106-150.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2022-7-3-106-150

Annotation

The current social-economic situation in Russia poses new challenges for industries, agriculture, and services. One of these challenges is the search for alternative sources of food supply in regions and the strengthening of food security under the import substitution policy. In agriculture, the emphasis is placed on the development of both main branches and those previously considered additional. At the same time, there are attempts to diversify economies of the single-industry regions in order to ensure their ‘sustainable’ development. One of the regions representing all the above trends is the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region. Federal and regional authorities strive to reduce its budget dependence on the oil and gas rent and to invest in the traditional sectors of polar agriculture such as reindeer breeding and fishery. The article is based on the results of the author’s field studies in the summer of 2021 and describes the social-economic situation in Yamal. The author pays particular attention to agriculture and indigenous peoples of Siberia, to the history and main trends in the development of the nomadic and semi-nomadic groups of Yamal — to identify promising directions and main barriers for the development of regional agriculture.

Keywords

Regional development, human geography, Siberian indigenous nations, migration, oil-producing regions, agriculture, reindeer breeding.

About the author

Gusakov Timur Yu., Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Vernadskogo Prosp., 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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Full text

2018. Vol.3. №1.

Ideology and philosophy of the successful regional development in contemporary Russia: The Belgorod case

Apr 05 2018

Nikulin A.M., Trotsuk I.V., Wegren S. Ideology and philosophy of the successful regional development in contemporary Russia: The Belgorod case // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2018. V.3. №1. P. 99-116.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2018-3-1-99-116

Annotation

The article considers economic successes of the Belgorod region as significantly determined by the governor Yevgeny Savchenko’ agrarian policies, which compensate for the region’s small size and modest human capital. In 2017, the authors published an article describing economic policies and social programs of regional authorities; now the authors focus on the leadership by Yevgeny Savchenko, and his rather paradoxical personal and management views. First, according to Max Weber’s typology of authority, Savchenko is a charismatic leader with strong personality traits and careful political behavior, who benefits from the traditional Slavophile populism and institutional design of the gubernatorial powers that has allowed governors to become more powerful compared to other regional actors during 2002–2012. Second, the Belgorod governor’s project has quite traditional Russian roots in the spirit of A.V. Chayanov’s novel “My brother Alexey’s journey to the land of peasant utopia”, which allowed the Belgorod modernization project to successfully cope with unpredictable challenges from the Russian oligarchy and global economy, and to use competitive standards of consumer society as the grounds for conservative modernization and solidary society development. The Belgorod governor implements his own model of new economy consisting of the extensive development of solidarity and cooperation; ideals of healthy lifestyle; and freedom in choosing ways to work and to rest (regional authorities support corporate, family and individual strategies of life). Third, Savchenko has publicly articulated his personal political-economic theory reflecting a conglomerate of conservative, socialist and populist ideas, and combining anti-liberalism and statist philosophy as the basis for the revival of the Russian state, which the governor sees as an engine of social progress.

Keywords

Belgorod region, governor, leadership, regional authorities, regional development, ideological roots, philosophical foundations.

About the authors

Nikulin Alexander M., PhD (Economics), Head of the Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, Russian Federation, 119571.
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Trotsuk Irina V., DSc (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Associate Professor, Sociology Chair, RUDN University. Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, Russian Federation, 119571.
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Wegren Stephen, Professor of Political Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA.
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