rural community

2024. Vol.9. №2.

A few methodological notes based on the field observations of rural human capital in the Russia’s Non-Black Earth Region

Jul 17 2024

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

Irina V. Trotsuk, 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.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Additional Info

Submitted Thursday, 08 February 2024
Reviewed Friday, 01 March 2024
Copyright © Auhtors, 2024
Distribution Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

2023. Vol.8. №3.

Peasant children and adolescents in the agrarian protests of 1905–1907

Nov 16 2023

Bezgin V.B. Peasant children and adolescents in the agrarian protests of 1905–1907 // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2023. V.8. №3. P. 63-77.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-3-63-77

Annotation

The article considers the participation of village children and adolescents in the agrarian movement of 1905– 1907 as a part of the study of the role of the “generation of revolutionary change” in the peasant revolution of 1902–1922. The study aims at the historical justification of Danilov-Shanin’s concept through generational history combined with peasant studies and interdisciplinary approach. The author focuses on the underage peasants’ participation in the agrarian turmoil of 1905–1907, based on the archival documents and media materials. Police and governor’s reports and court records show that children and adolescents participated in such forms of peasant protest as destruction and arson of landlords’ fields and estates, which is evidenced by deaths and injuries of rural children during punitive actions and by illegal actions of rural adolescents mentioned in investigative cases, court proceedings and newspaper articles. Thus, rural children were observers of protests, while rural adolescents played an active role, sometimes including the role of rioters. Such a participation of children and adolescents in the peasant movement was determined by the nature of collective actions in the peasant community and by the peasant traditional attitude to ‘alien’ property. The experience of peasant protest was used by the younger rural generation during the ‘black redistribution’ of 1917.

Keywords

“Generation of revolutionary change”, rural community, peasantry, children, adolescents, protest.

About the author

Vladimir B. Bezgin, DSc (History), Leading Researcher, Tambov State Technical University. Sovetskaya St., 106/5, Tambov, 392000.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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