Mikhalenko N. V. Utopian idea in the Russian literature of the 1920s–1930s (The Journey of My Brother Alexei to the Land of Peasant Utopia by A. V. Chayanov in the context of the era) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2021. V.6. №4. P. 6-20.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2021-6-4-6-20
Annotation
Alexander Chayanov’s book The Journey of My Brother Alexei to the Land of Peasant Utopia is deeply rooted in the late 19th—early 20th century’s literary and philosophical ideas. His utopia was influenced not only by the futuristic projects of William Morris, Thomas Moore, Edward Bellamy and other authors mentioned in the book, but also by the ideas interpreted in the works of Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vladimir Kirillov, Evgeny Zamyatin, Andrei Platonov, and others. The picture of the peasant paradise presented by Chayanov’s economic ideas is similar to the dreams of the neo-peasant poets about an ‘izba paradise’ (izba—a traditional Russian farmstead), preservation of traditional values and folk culture. Technological achievements are described in the works of Mayakovsky and Zamyatin, and Chayanov’s utopia adds the ability to control meteorological processes. The writers’ reflections on the future man were influenced by their interpretation of future theurgic ambitions and their possible results (artificial selection, strict regulation of many spheres of life, compulsory realization of gifts and talents, separation or even extermination of dissenters, etc.). The futurologist ideas about the development of society, science, art and culture, implemented in different art forms, were tested to check the man’s ability to identify the limits of his power over his own nature while not attempting to suppress or change according to the challenges of technology.
Keywords
Utopia, utopian idea in the Russian literature of the 1920s–1930s, Alexander Chayanov, Alexander Bogdanov, Sergey Esenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Andrei Platonov, Evgeny Zamyatin.
About the author
Mikhalenko Natalia V., PhD (Philology), Senior Researcher, А. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St. 25а, 121069 Moscow, Russia.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Lepetyukhina Ya.O., Neroda M.A. Uferwerk partnership, or implementation of social utopia // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2020. V.5. №2. P. 141-150.
DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2020-5-2-141-150
Annotation
The article considers the history and everyday practices of the German housing cooperative partnership Uferwerk located in the countryside not far from Berlin. On the example of the housing cooperative Uferwerk, the authors analyze the social structure, financial and legal features of the contemporary housing partnership that reconstructs traditional relations and at the same time creates new humanistic relations of the community. This partnership transformed and rebuilt the former industrial territory of the metallurgical manufactory into an environmentally attractive space for the community of ninety adults and sixty children of various generations. The article focuses on the successful intergenerational interaction of the members of this housing partnership; considers its search for optimal legal and organizational-financial forms. The authors emphasize that all members of this unique project did not have any special data or skills for creating a cooperative, arranging a joint life, reconstructing real estate or developing a set of rules for the partnership. Thus, the new community developed due to the internal mutual learning based on the active participation of its members in management and decision-making, work and leisure, and on their desire to achieve the old utopian goals of cooperative solidarity in the new social realities of the 21st century.
Keywords
community, family, partnership, cooperative, suburbanization, real estate, ecology, generations, utopia
About the authors
Lepetyukhina Yana O., PhD Student, Institute of Political Sciences, RheinischWestfälische Technische Hochschule. Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße, 10, 52074, Aachen.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Neroda Maxim A., Graphic Designer; Head of the Electric Workshop at the Uferwerk Partnership. Halle 36 e.V., Luisenstr. 16, 14542 Werder (Havel).
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Russian Peasant Studies. Scientific journal
The Russian Peasant Studies is published by the Center for Agrarian studies of the Russian Presidental Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) since 2016. ISSN 2500-1809. Frequency - four issues per year. The Russian registration number is PI FS77-65824 27-May-2016. Open access: All volumes and articles can be downloaded for free in the PDF format. Russian Peasant Studies included to Russian Science Citation Index, Russian Science Citation Index Core, List of Journals approved by Russian Hihger Attestation committee (Ministry for Sciende and Education) and Scopus database. The publisher: Delo Publishing House of the RANEPA. Hard copies of the journal can be purchased at the Delo e-store or by subscription in the "Press of Russia" Agency (subscription index - Т81017). Full list of the RANEPA Journlas
- Russian Peasant Studies in UlrichsWeb
We are pleased to announce that since September 2020 the Russian Peasant Studies Journal has been indexed in the UlrichWeb Global Serials Directory.
Subscription
Friends and Partners
Rosa Luxemburg foundation
was a partner of Russian Peasant Studies before it was removed from list of approved foundation in 2022
