On the problems of the rural population in the period of late socialism (on the example of the Far East of the RSFSR)

Abstract

The article examines the life activity of the rural population of the Russian Far East in the 1970s – the first half of the 1980s through a set of existing problems and contradictions. Special attention is paid to a number of socio-economic phenomena that caused a negative reaction of rural residents, primarily agricultural workers. The attitude that the villagers felt towards their position in the region and in the structure of the Far Eastern society should not be considered purely negative. It also had positive manifestations. Nevertheless, within the framework of this article, the author focuses on the negative aspects of life, which were permanent and intensified under the influence of both subjective and objective factors. Topicality of this issue is given by the fact that many processes that affected the villagers of the late socialism era also take place in modern Russian reality. The author notes the complexity and ambiguity of the existing problems, the insufficient efforts of the authorities to overcome them, and the formation by the mid-1980s of a clear trend of the outflow of young, able-bodied and qualified population to more favourable areas, primarily cities.