The development of the territory of the European North by representatives of individual religious groups (on the example of the study by the narodniks of the Old Believers religious group)

Abstract

The article describes how and in what ways the largest religious group of the Russian Empire — the Old Believers – mastered the northern territory of the European part of Russia. The archives and materials of the well-known narodnik-religious scholar A. S. Prugavin (1850-1920) act as a source of information. In general, A. S. Prugavin's approach to the perception of the Old Believers did not differ from the traditional narodnik one, when this social community was considered a group ready for protest and struggle with the authorities, which only needed to be properly directed. But after being exiled to the European North (Arkhangelsk province), the researcher realized how much the intelligentsia and public figures were mistaken about the understanding of the common people, and changed his attitude to the Old Believers. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism and system analysis of available sources. In particular, the author considered the journalism of A.S. Prugavin through archival materials preserved in the personal fund. The peculiarity of A. S. Prugavin's approach was a global rather than selective immersion in the topic. The religious scholar not only developed a "Program for collecting information about religious movements in the Russian people," he followed it himself and called for a similar approach by others. He often personally contacted religious groups and received information through personal observations and subsequent correspondence with representatives of Old Believers and sectarianism. That is why the Old Believers were perceived not only as a group that was isolated on a spiritual basis, but also as a significant part of the Russian people. The religious scholar came to the conclusion that the socio-economic role of the Old Believers in the peasant environment (contribution to education and economic development) is underestimated, whereas this experience could become a model for the development of the northern village, in search of which there were representatives of various socio-political groups.