DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-1-75-95
The author shows how local residents of the closest suburbs of Ulan-Ude (which grew rapidly in the 2000s — 2010s due to detached houses construction, including dacha non-commercial partnerships (DNP) without basic engineering, housing and social infrastructure) defended their “right to the city” (comfortable environment in suburban residential areas, equal access to urban public goods, etc.). The struggle for this right implied social-political mobilization, awareness and acceptance of personal responsibility for the development of territories, including in the form of territorial public self-government (TPS) that widely developed in Buryatia in the 2010s. However, this struggle was not widespread, all-encompassing, constant and sustainable as local suburban communities remained disunited and united only to solve common problems. The case of Ulan-Ude and its suburbs shows the situational nature of urban citizenship and the continuing fragmentation of urban and suburban communities in their seemingly common strive for the adequate quality of the urban/suburban environment, equal access to public goods and urban resources. The article shows a variety of argumentations for the “right to the city’, which may directly contradict each other, since the ideals embodied in this right often are not perceived by ‘ordinary’ residents. The study is based on the author’s participant observations (from 2011), in-depth interviews with leaders and activists of TPS and DNP in the suburban settlements of Ulan–Ude (2021– 2024), a focus group (January 2024) and media publications.
Rural migration, right to the city, Russia, Ulan-Ude, suburbs, citizenship, territorial public self-government.
Breslavsky Anatoly S., PhD (History), Senior Researcher, Center of Urban Studies, Tyumen State University. Lenina St., 23, Tyumen, 625003.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-152-173
On the example of the Karelian village Pyalma, the author considers the construction of the image of the Russian traditional Northern village by former city dwellers. Based on their own ideas about the rural authenticity, they represent rural traditions to urban tourists, whose knowledge of the rural is determined by popular culture and is not supported by practical skills. By comparing the history of Pyalma with other examples of the contemporary public work with natural-cultural heritage in North-West Russia, the author shows that the typification and museumification of traditional rurality in many villages are determined by the individual desire to preserve them and ensure their development by attracting tourists and introducing activities of the ‘economy of impressions’. The author notes that for most ‘seasonal’ residents (local and urban summer residents), the historicity of the place is not as important as the natural-infrastructural features of the village location. Thus, today urban projections of rurality in historical settlements are clearly divided into general and private, commemorative-tourist and personal economic practices, which together form a post-productivist ‘new rurality’ of historical villages in the Russian North.
New rurality, rural tourism, Russian village, Russian North, heritage, naturalcultural landscape.
Korolev Cyril M., PhD (Philology), Head of the Patria (“Fatherland”) Center for History and Culture. Nab. Obvodnogo Kanala, 15, bldg. 1, lit. A, Saint Petersburg, 190002.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-137-151
Under the long-term rural outflow to cities, urban migration to rural areas, especially of those not changing urban registration or staying in the countryside seasonally, is almost invisible. However, the influx of new residents affects rural areas greatly since city dwellers have rich social capital and other resources to transform the countryside. Foreign researchers suggest the term ‘rural gentrification’ to describe such processes. On the example of the Verkhovazhsky district of the Vologda oblast, the author shows how city dwellers participate in different spheres of the rural economic and social life or introduce new types of activities that could be characterized as sprouts of rural modernization if not for their close connection with the traditional rural life. The paper is based on the field studies conducted from 2019 to 2023, combining in-depth and expert interviews with participant observation. In the villages of the Vaga valley, there are guest houses, a center for wood-fired ceramics, a base for restorers of wooden architecture and other facilities created by city dwellers. At the same time, former city residents work in the rural social infrastructure — schools, cultural centers, shops, administrations, offering rural residents new, urban practices (public lectures, book crossing, separate waste collection, second-hand stores). On the one hand, former city residents contribute to changes in certain aspects of rural life; on the other hand, they adopt elements of rural lifestyle, which is manifested in clothing, everyday practices, and way of thinking.
Countryside, migration from the city to the village, rural gentrification, cultural initiatives, Vologda oblast, Non-Chernozem Region.
Averkieva Kseniya V., PhD (Geography), Associate Professor, Faculty of Geography and Geoinformation Technologies, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Senior Researcher, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences. 101000, Moscow, Myasnitskaya str., 20.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-121-136
The article focuses on kin’s domains — plots of at least one hectare, which became so called since the early 2000s, after the publication of the series of books by Vladimir Megre — Ringing Cedars of Russia. Megre described his meeting with the Siberian hermit Anastasia and her nostalgic stories about the kin’s domain settlements of the Vedic Russia. Readers, inspired by this narrative of the ‘golden age’, tried to create this utopia in different Russian regions — according to the followers, there are more than 500 such settlements. Kin’s domain is usually organized on agricultural land and needs the entire infrastructure, so practical skills, technical knowledge and creativity are valued by the participants. In many ways, such settlements follow the global trend of ecovillages as laboratories of sustainable development, autonomy, harmonious coexistence of man and nature, spiritual development and healing. The author shows how the economic and ideological crisis of the 1990s determined the rise of alternative teachings and the enthusiasm of builders of a bright future. At the same time, many active participants of first ecovillages and kin’s domains followed the Soviet discourse, emphasizing the significance of Soviet morality and creative self-activity. The article is based on the field studies conducted in 2008–2021 in kin’s domain settlements and at the meetings of Anastasians, and on the Internet sources.
Kin’s domains, ecovillage, Ringing Cedars, intentional communities, leadership, utopia, experiment, commune, New Age, do-it-yourself.
Andreeva Julia O., PhD (History), Independent Researcher. 2-ya liniya Vasilyevskogo ostrova, 53, St.-Petersburg.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-102-120
The article examines the main trends in the economic development of the Republic of Tatarstan from 1990 to 2020 and identifies some consequences of the 2022 sanctions for these trends. The author stresses the role of Tatarstan in the life of European Russia, showing the spatial structure of its settlements and economy. The article outlines the differences in the Tatarstan industrial production, trade and agriculture by district and presents the key trends in their changes over thirty years on maps and figures. The author identifies the features of rural areas under study based on the ethnic composition of their population, distance from cities and economic transformations in agriculture. The author pays special attention to agroholdings that play an important role in the social-economic development of Tatarstan and provides examples from the history of some agroholdings to prove their impact on the economic development of rural areas. However, the role of small business in the development of rural areas is also explained, and the issues of rural development in some areas are examined in detail. The author concludes with a list of main problems in the development of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Republic of Tatarstan, settlement, agglomeration, ethnic composition of the population, industry, agriculture, agroholdings, small business.
Nefedova Tatyana G., DSc (Geography), Chief Researcher, Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Staromonetny per., 29, Moscow, 119017.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-3-144-184
Today, urban-type settlements still have an ‘intermediate’ position between the city and the village, as in the Soviet period. However, the consequences of the 1990s’ crisis and the transition to the market economy have changed the social-economic situation in such settlements. The authors consider Lokot in the Brasovsky district of the Bryansk Region as an example of the peripheral urban-type settlement and describe its changes on the axis of urbanization in the post-Soviet period based on the following indicators: appearance of the village, employment, mobility, migration and lifestyle of its population. Each indicator has undergone transformations of various scale since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but there is no single trend (pro-urban or pro-rural): the appearance of the village and the lifestyle of the local population have become more urban due to the development of the services sector, while employment, mobility and migration, on the contrary, have become more rural primarily due to the closure of the city-forming industrial enterprises, which led to a significant outflow of the able-bodied population to cities. Thus, the multidirectional nature of transformation does not allow to unambiguously define Lokot as a city or a village.
Urban-type settlement, city, village, lifestyle, Bryansk Region, socialeconomic transformation.
Samburova Svetlana A., Master’s Student, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninsky Gory, 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia.
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Alekseev Alexander I., DSc (Geography), Professor, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leninsky Gory, 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-3-129-143
The article considers the management practices of the North-European Russian villagers in the post-perestroika period. Based on the field data, the author examines the practices of the heads of rural administrations in one district of the Arkhangelsk Region. The main field method were ethnographic interviews with villagers of the Arkhangelsk Region, who used to hold or has held leadership positions in rural administrations. The study shows that many villagers remember the Soviet past with nostalgia, which is explained by its special qualities — ‘stability’, ‘collectivism’, ‘mutual assistance’, ‘confidence in the future’. The author argues that there is some correlation between gender and chosen management models: as a rule, women emphasize the principles of collectivism and mutual assistance, focus on helping the most vulnerable groups in their villages (unemployed, single mothers, etc.); while men prefer administrative resources and personal connections, often ignoring the needs of their fellow villagers. The study showed that in the post-Soviet village, there was a kind of symbiosis of several management models with clear gender differences in their application.
North of European Russia, nostalgia, gender, managers, power, mutual assistance, collectivism, perestroika, ‘transit’.
Arkhipova Maryana N., PhD (History), Senior Researcher, Center for Applied History, Institute of Social Sciences, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Senior Lecturer, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, bldg. 1, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-3-113-128
In the 21st century, the relevance of climate agendas made the transition to resource-saving and organic technologies for producing and processing agricultural products a strategic task for many countries. Therefore, we witness the emergence and expansion of organic forms of farming all over the world. Over the past ten years, ‘organic agro-industrial complex’ has become mainstream in the transition to ‘green economy’. The authors consider the main forms of organic farming and the basic principles and approaches to resource-saving production in the agro-industrial complex. The article presents a review of the regional distribution of organic farming focusing on its volume and resource potential. The authors develop a new concept for the transition to organic farming on the Russian example, emphasizing the country’s resource potential and competitive advantages. Based on this draft Strategy for the Development of Organic Production in the Russian Federation until 2030, the authors identify the market and the structure of organic production and its main drivers and propose new directions for the development of organic branch in the national agro-industrial complex.
Agriculture, organic farming/production, market, food, manufacturers, ecology, products.
Fedotova Gilyan V., DSc (Economics), Associate Professor, Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after of K. I. Scriabin. Akademika Scriabina St., 23, Moscow,109472.
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Novikov Mikhail V., PhD (Technical Sciences), Associate Professor, Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after of K. I. Scriabin. Akademika Scriabina St., 23, Moscow, 109472.
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Dzhancharov Turmushbek M., PhD (Biology), Associate Professor, Russian State Agrarian University — Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. Timiryazevskaya Str., 49, Moscow, 127434.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-3-87-112
This year confirmed an ambiguous situation with food security in Russia. On the one hand, the government insists on the achieved sustainable food self-sufficiency/sovereignty: “Russia is self-sufficient in all basic types of food”2 ; “the level of food security in Russia is one of the most reliable in the world”3; “the Eurasian Economic Union has reached a level of self-sufficiency in most food products (grain, vegetable oils, pork, lamb, sugar, eggs)”4. The Russian leadership admits the “very complex nature” of food sovereignty as depending on climate change, population growth, trade wars, sanctions, and so on5. However, the official discourse emphasizes that “we should not be pessimists”, “a country striving to be sovereign must provide itself with food”, and Russia solves this task so successfully that has become one of the largest food exporters. Therefore, “in 2023, food inflation in Russia will be one of the lowest in the world due to self-sufficiency in basic products” 6 and “systemic measures of anti-crisis support for enterprises and sectors that ensure food security”7 . Since mid-2020, rising prices on world markets have determined higher prices on domestic markets, and high food inflation affected many countries. In Russia, food inflation is lower compared to other regions (10% vs 19.1% in the EU or 14.9% in the OECD), and the rate of increase in food prices is lower than general inflation, while in other countries food prices became key drivers of accelerating retail prices. The article considers Russia’s measures for keeping food prices down and its population’s everyday food-consumer practices for keeping usual diet under rising prices. The survey confirmed the persistent inconsistency of Russians’ assessment of food practices, which can be explained by the trend to ‘normalize’ one’s life situation in general and in its most essential part (daily diet) in particular.
Rising food prices, foreign and domestic markets, food inflation, food prices volatility, food (in)security, (everyday) food-consumer practices, economic and physical access to food, sociological data.
Shagaida Natalia I., DSc (Economics), Head of the Center for Agro-Food Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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Ternovsky Denis S., DSc (Economics), Senior Researcher, Center for Agro-Food Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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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. 119571, Moscow, Vernadskogo Prosp., 82.
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DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-2-116-139
“The end of the combine’s era” in Baikalsk meant the redistribution of opportunities and hopes — some left the city, others stayed searching for ways to earn money. Informal economic practices include renting housing to tourists, collecting and selling wild berries and herbs, catching and selling fish, growing and selling strawberries. In strawberry business, there are new ‘players’, garden tools and methods of processing, and the information and expert field is also expanding. By 2021, Baikalsk became a city of the qualified specialists in the field of strawberry cultivation. The article presents the results of the study of the strawberry business transformation: who is now engaged in this business, what are new meanings of such activities, why the strawberry ‘theme’ remains at the visual level, quite formal for urban identity, despite the strawberry business’s stable place in every family.
Sociology of everyday life, monotown, informal economic practices, gardening, strawberry cultivation.
Koryukhina Irina Yu., PhD (Philosophy), Researcher, Centre for Independent Social Research. 664003, Irkutsk, Bogdana Khmelnitskogo Str., 30А-1.
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Boyarskikh Ekaterina G., Researcher, Centre for Independent Social Research. Irkutsk, Bogdana Khmelnitskogo Str., 30А-1.
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