Citizen Participation in the Development of the Nonagrarian Function of the Countryside: Rural Guest Houses in the Russian North

Abstract

Based on five case studies, the article shows options for citizen owners of rural guest houses or hotels to develop the nonagrarian function of the countryside in regions with the most difficult natural conditions in European Russia and long-term depopulation of rural areas. In-depth interviews and field observations have made it possible to identify several strategies for the participation of guest house owners in the development of territories. Strategies can fit into the institutional framework (the mechanism of territorial public self-government in Arkhangelsk oblast or the “public budget” in Vologda oblast and grant programs of nonstate funds), or they can have a do-it-yourself nature. In this case, they are based solely on the social capital of citizens living in rural areas. The rural development projects implemented by citizens do not cover restoration of the rural economic base, but they contribute to diversification of the rural economy and rural functions as a whole.