Gusakov T. Yu., Gusakova L. K. Settlement sustainability as a result of the human and social capital development (on the example of the urban-type settlement Oktyabrskoe in the Republic of Crimea) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №4. P. 218-245.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-4-218-245
Annotation
Sustainable development of territories is one of the key goals of global and national policy. However, despite the resonance and financial assistance, many territories still lag behind and suffer from social-economic crises due to the peculiarities of both economic specialization and local communities. In Russia, depopulation has affected not only certain types of settlements and localities but also macro-territories (such as the North and the Arctic), which is determined not only by economic backwardness but also by social atomization of local communities, i.e., weak social ties at the micro level. The government makes efforts to smooth out demographic contrasts within the country, providing lagging regions with additional funding in the form of federal transfers and subsidies (policy of participatory budgeting, national projects, and various target programs to support local projects). The population of the Crimean Peninsula, except for Sevastopol, has gradually decreased due to a number of reasons: the region’s peripheral status, lagging social-economic development, proximity to the war zone, ethnic tensions, etc. However, some settlements do not lose their population and even manage to increase the number of residents. The authors consider one such settlement in different perspectives (historical prerequisites, economic specialization, features of social-economic and economic-geographical development, possibilities for accumulating social and human capital) and make a conclusion that its sustainability cannot be ensured only by additional funding for improvement projects and infrastructure construction.
Keywords
Sustainable development, settlement, rural areas, human capital, social capital, Crimea.
About the authors
Timur Y. Gusakov., Researcher, Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Vernadskogo Prosp., 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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Lyudmila K. Gusakova, Independent Researcher. Novaya St., 19, Novoalekseevka village, Krasnogvardeisky district, Republic of Crimea, 297060, Russia.
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Additional Info
- Submitted Wednesday, 13 November 2024
- Reviewed Monday, 02 December 2024
- Copyright © Auhtors, 2024
- Distribution Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Yanbykh R. G., Lerman Z. The future of agricultural cooperatives in Russia: Does theory matter? // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №4. P. 6-20.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-4-6-20
Annotation
The article aims at identifying theoretical and practical reasons for the failure of the agricultural cooperation development in Russia. Authors suggest that rural cooperatives in Russia do not develop due to the general features of the formation of social capital in the Russian countryside, the lack of necessary institutional conditions, and the wrong idea that cooperatives based on the classical principles of cooperation can operate successfully in the contemporary economy and society. The first theoretical barrier to cooperation is that in the contemporary high-technology agriculture, hybrid structures (cooperatives) are less efficient than the hierarchical one used by agroholdings. The second theoretical barrier is the inconsistency of seven classical principles of cooperation formulated at the time of Raiffeisen (i.e. outdated) with today’s economic realities and their transformations. The third practical barrier is the rapid degradation of rural areas and the low level of trust and interaction between members of agricultural cooperatives, which is why there are no trends of the bottom-up development of cooperation. The authors conclude that a high level of social capital is the necessary condition for cooperation: at the formation stage, this level is high due to interpersonal relationships developed from the informal social interactions of its members and a high level of trust among members and between members and management, but cooperatives start to lose their social capital as they enlarge — the sense of community, trust and mutual assistance disappears, the atmosphere becomes more business-oriented.
Keywords
Cooperation, agricultural cooperatives, classical principles of cooperation, agroholdings, social capital, trust, rural development, rural areas.
About the authors
Renata G. Yanbykh, DSc (Economics), Institute for Agrarian Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Pokrovsky Blvr., 11, Moscow, 109028, Russia.
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Zvi Lerman, PhD (Finance), Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel). 76100, Israel, Rehovot, 12.
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Additional Info
- Submitted Thursday, 03 October 2024
- Reviewed Thursday, 14 November 2024
- Copyright © Auhtors, 2024
- Distribution Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Nefedova T.G., Nikulin A.M. “You have to work, and they will find you and will offer you everything” // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2019. V.4. №1. P. 123-144.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2019-4-1-123-144
Annotation
In her interview, Tatiana Nefedova, a Chief Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, tells about her research interests that had formed already in childhood and brought her to the geographical faculty of the Moscow State University, and about her further professional development. As a true geographer, the author traveled a lot all over Russia and the world, participated in different interdisciplinary geographical projects, and at first they were not agricultural. Nevertheless, T.G. Nefedova made a significant scientific contribution to the study and development of rural post-Soviet Russia. At the same time her cross-cultural comparative studies of rural Russia and other countries of the world—Europe and Asia—are no less important. In her interview, she also focuses on various methods to study the spatial development, on the perception and reflections on the poly-scale nature of space, on the diversity of regionality as the most important factor of rural development, and on the ratio of quantitative and qualitative research methods. One of the special topics of the interview is the relationship of the scientist and the authorities. Should a scientist seek power and strive to in fluence the state decision-making with his findings despite the threat of turning from a scientist into a politician or an official? In conclusion, new plans and projects of geographical studies of rural Russia are discussed, for instance, the study of such a combination of factors of social development as the long-inhabited territories, social capital, social mobility, agglomerations, summer residents, and cultural heritage.
Keywords
geography, regions, rural Russia, research methods, rural households, social capital, agglomerations
About the authors
Tatyana G. Nefedova, DSc (Geography), Chief Researcher, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences; 119017, Moscow, Staromonetny per., 29.
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Alexander M. Nikulin, PhD (Economics), Head of the Center for Agrarian Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; 119571, Moscow, Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82.
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Averkieva K.V. Symbiosis of agriculture and forestry on the early-developed periphery of the Non-Black Earth Region: The case of the Tarnogsky district of the Vologda Region // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2017. V.2. №4. P. 86-106.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2017-2-4-86-106
Annotation
The article considers the social-economic structure of the Tarnogsky district of the Vologda Region, which has a peripheral position in both European Russia and the region. Its specific features such as the low rate of population decline and the growth of the local economy that is not high compared to other Non-Black Earth regions do not correspond to the centre-periphery logic of the well-developed space adopted in social and economic sciences. There is a highly developed timber industry including manufacture of a wide range of complex products; eleven agricultural enterprises and creamery that increase production annually, which is a rarity in the peripheral Non-Black Earth region. Such success of the Tarnogsky district is determined by both reasonable regional policies in forestry and agriculture and by personal qualities of the residents, i.e. the social capital. The author argues that the long-term territorial isolation combined with a long history of economic development played an important role in the current situation. Perhaps, the development of stable and close social ties was influenced by the ‘cluster’ (or “nesting”) type of rural settlement, in which “bushes” of 10-15 villages are located in walking distance from each other and separated by forest areas.
Keywords
rural area, periphery, early-developed territory, agriculture, forestry, social capital
About the author
Kseniya V. Averkieva, PhD (Geography), Senior Researcher, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119017, Staromonetny Per., 29.
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