The process of Transformation in the Modern Crimea

Abstract

The current events in Crimea represent a clear transit from one political and cultural mode to another. It does not include a radical economic element, i.e. a move toward market relations, since this line has already been taken and implemented to some degree in the analyzed societies. As the logic goes, a new transit is not so extreme, comparing with the transit from socialism towards capitalism. Nevertheless, it has also become a cause for so called “cultural trauma” described by P. Shtompka. Then, there is a vital question of how to cope with it. This transit is the core focus of our research. The analysis is based on the informal observation over the general mood in the Crimean society during the postSoviet periods and on the results of experiments carried out by the department for social and cultural development in Russia from August to September, 2015. The research is done on the one hand with the means of qualitative methods, i.e. using in-depth interviews with the officials and representatives of healthcare organizations, cultural and educational institutions as well as with the locals from five cities (84 interviews in total); and, on the other – through the method of focus-groups with students studying in 3 different universities. A special attention should be paid to the fact that this research has not been conducted in the Crimean Tatar community. It has been described that transformational processes are being performed, and the idea of their implementation is possessed by the biggest part of the Crimeans. It has also been demonstrated that the transformation is based on a sustainable constancy of the Republic of Crimea’s residents in their focus on Russia, together with their economic activity which also has only slightly changed in the course of time. Within the analysis of a successful merge between Crimea and Russia, some essential requirements as well as their presence in the modern Crimean society have been defined. In particular, they include sufficiency of economic and human resources, civil accord between social elites, governmental retention of the social control, pro-active measures on heated social and armed conflicts. As the research has shown, the process of joining to Russia has a future, since today’s young generation, and students in particular, are sure in their “Crimean position”: they study in this region and have fixed plans for their further life there.