post-Soviet Period Research Articles

Alternative Book Publishing: The Terminology Evolution

The article aims to clarify the content of the concept of “alternative book publishing” taking into account the historical retrospective, as well as to consider the formation of the terminology used in studying the development of this phenomenon in Russia. An analysis of scientific literature shows that the definition of “alternative” began to be used by Russian scientists in relation to printed works and publishing activities in the post-Soviet period against the background of the cardinal socio-political transformations taking place in the country. The term “alternative press” came into scientific usage to define the late 1980s—1990s press that was not controlled by the state, was in opposition and expressed public dissent. The researchers who introduced this term into the scientific community described it as a phenomenon of the transition period. In the first post-Soviet decade, the concept of “alternative book publishing” appeared and became widely used to refer to non-state, independent book publishing of the new stage of Russian history. However, according to the author, this term is also applicable to earlier historical periods, since publishing activities, alternative to the state book publishing, have a deep tradition in Russia. This paper offers an interpretation of the concept of “alternative book publishing” in relation to different stages of national history. The author traces the formation of the terms that characterize this phenomenon and reveals their content in different historical periods.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ГЕНЕАЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ ЛИЧНОСТИ В СИСТЕМЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ САХА (ЯКУТИЯ): ОПЫТ И ПРОБЛЕМЫ

The relevance of the issue of identifying the genealogical self among all the population of the country is the requirement of post-Soviet period. Now it is time to pass this vital need of all the gained experience by current generation to next. Is 30 years enough to rooting genealogical culture of the nation? Are young parents and families aware of how to teach genealogical competences their children? The same questions are on the agenda of our education system. Taking into consideration the mentioned questions, this study aims to analyze the state of public education system and the family institution in terms of the questions about formation and developing the genealogical culture of personality. To achieve the aim of the study, the authors used traditional general scientific methods applied in humanitarian fields: a review of literature and sources, sociological methods, logical analysis, analogy, generalization, systematization. The results showed that the process under study based on the research goes to a greater extent by itself, without a purposeful, strategic approach to this most important area of inculturation of growing members of society, mainly due to the aggravated urgency of the problem. The practical significance and, to some extent, the theoretical value of the article lies in the consideration of the methodological side of solving the problem the authors attempted to answer the question "How to form?" genealogical component of personal culture.

Women's Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Tuva: Motives, Barriers and Opportunities

The article analyzes the gender characteristics of economic and entrepreneurial activity among the population of Tuva.
 The transformation of the structure of the regional economy and the labor market in the post-Soviet period consisted in a significant reduction in the primary and secondary sectors due to the destruction of the agricultural and industrial complexes of Tuva, in which mainly men had been employed. During the socio-economic crisis of the 1990s, excessively feminized branches of the tertiary sector, such as education, healthcare, and social assistance, saved jobs. In addition, the higher level of education of women in the republic compared to men increased their adaptive capabilities in a crisis. For these reasons, a steady and long-lasting trend has begun in Tuva since the 1990s, in which women demonstrate greater economic activity compared to men, which does not coincide with global and Russian trends. The gender gap in favor of women in employment emerged also due to the general modernization processes in Tuvan society in the XX century, which resulted in the shaping of a new gender order and a new type of family with double income and two breadwinners.
 The analysis of women's economic activity in general and entrepreneurship at the present stage has shown that women play a key role in the formation of a social group of entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium-sized businesses. A regional feature is that the share of entrepreneurship as a social community still remains insignificant in the social structure of Tuvan society. The fact that in the gender composition of individual entrepreneurs of Tuva, women slightly, but still quantitatively exceed the number of men, demonstrates the leveling of socio-cultural stereotypes associated with the historically established distribution of gender roles. The peculiarities of gender differentiation in economic activities are that women are represented in many areas that have traditionally been considered "male", that the gender-marked areas are practically absent. According to the opinion of women-entrepreneurs, there are no institutional, formal barriers to women's entrepreneurship in Tuva. At the same time, the general problems of poverty of the population remain relevant, causing difficulties in starting financial opportunities for the majority of the population, barriers of a socio-psychological nature.

Cultural and Geopolitical Conflicts between the West and Russia: Western NGOs and LGBT Activism

Gender norms and sexuality have become a part of cultural and geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West. In the early 1990s, Russia was ready to embrace Western liberal values welcoming foreign and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to work in the country. In the last two decades, the Kremlin has started to perceive the promotion of Western liberal ideals across the globe as a sign of imperialism. Putin’s Russia presents itself as an advocate of “traditional values” and a defender of “traditional family”. The rejection of LGBT rights is part of Putin’s narrative of resisting Western liberal dominance. The Kremlin views Western NGOs promoting liberal agenda as actors working to undermine the county’s sovereignty and security. The paper analyses the role of foreign and international (Western) NGOs in Russian LGBT activism. It discusses how changes in geopolitical orientation and foreign policy that Russia has experienced in the post-Soviet period affected the connections between Russian LGBT activists and Western donors.

STUDYING THE 1938 MUNICH TREATY IN MODERN RUSSIA: OBSERVATIONS BY A HISTORIOGRAPHER

The Munich Treaty of 1938 has been of great interest to both Russian and foreign scholarship since its conclusion and up to the present time. The interest of researchers to this scientific problem can be explained by the fact that it has not only historical, but also great political importance. The circumstances of the treaty and its place in world politics on the eve of World War II are the object of fierce ideological struggle. For more than 80 years of study of the Munich Treaty a vast amount of historical literature has been accumulated, which is periodically analyzed in the historiographical literature. The article is devoted to the analysis of the historiographical literature, devoted to the analysis of the study of the Munich treaty of 1938 in the Russian historical science. Modern historiographers distinguish two periods in the study of the problem: The Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The analysis of the historiographical literature shows that while the authors' opinions largely coincide in assessing the Soviet period, there are significant differences in the assessment of the contribution of historians to the study of the Munich Treaty in the years of «perestroika», as well as in the post-Soviet period. This applies not only to the assessment of individual works of Russian scholars, but also to the directions in the development of post-Soviet science and stages in its development. Since the historiographic tradition in the study of the Munich Treaty has not ceased until now, the article analyzes the peculiarities of the literature, which was published on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Munich Treaty.

Экономические последствия СВО и западных экономических санкций

The article considers the short-term, mid-term and long-term economic consequences of the special military operation by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the impact of Western economic sanctions on the economic development of the Russian Federation from March till June 2022. Despite a short time passed since the beginning of the special operation and the introduction of economic sanctions against Russia, they have already made a serious impact on the Russian economy. There has been a rapid deterioration of many general and sectoral indicators. The slow-down in the investment sector is particularly dangerous in terms of mid-term consequences. The secrecy of much statistical and accounting data, imposed for the first time in the post-Soviet period, can be considered an indirect indicator of the severity of the economic crisis. While assessing the mid-term consequences of the current economic crisis, attention is drawn to the structural weaknesses of the Russian economy that have developed over the past 30 years and to the degradation of material and human capital during this period. The development of the country is compared to the movement of a ship. It is shown that with the current defects, the ship called ‘Russia’ in its current state is not able to withstand the storm caused by the military operation and economic sanctions. The economic, scientific and technical development of the USSR and the Russian Federation over the last 60 years is analyzed in detail. The analysis has shown that during this period almost all most important economic, scientific and technical indicators together with the intellectual potential demonstrated a continuous degradation. Thus, the Russian society and the state are facing the consequences of the mistakes and missed opportunities of the past 60 years. A lot of effort and time are required to overcome the consequences of these mistakes.

Институциональные трансформации и проекты развития Арктики и Севера: опыт экспертизы проектов человеческого развития этносоциологами Новосибирского научного центра

The article is devoted to the scientific expertise of human development projects in the North in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods of the institutional transformation of Russian society. Despite the fact that its official goal was the further development of the Soviet project among the peoples of the North, in essence, the researchers, in alliance with the authorities, searched for a balance between the mobilization (planned) and market strategies for the development of the Arctic and the North. The purpose of the article is to introduce into wide scientific circulation the results of research in the circumpolar zone of the RSFSR, carried out by ethnosociologists of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center (NSC) from 1982 to 1991 and later. The relevance of this work is brought to life by the desire of the state that emerged in 2010 to use market institutions in the implementation of plans for the development of the polar zone of the Russian Federation. This paper presents materials on the activities of the Regional Interdepartmental Commission for the Coordination of Comprehensive Socio-Economic, Medical, Biological and Linguistic Research on the Problems of the Development of the Peoples of the North, established in 1981 on the basis of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The tasks and functions of the Commission are described in detail. Among the key issues of its activities were the problems of labor and employment of the peoples of Siberia, the preservation of the traditional economy and native language, mass education and access to social benefits, the development of transport infrastructure and quality housing. Although the focus of the Commission’s work remained the study of the situation of the indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia, these problems were considered in a wide range of issues of developing the national economy, gaining access to the social benefits of late socialism in the paradigm of ‘the flourishing and rapprochement of nations’. With the liquidation of the Commission in the early post-Soviet period, researchers focused on studying the consequences of radical market reforms in the interethnic communities of the North of Siberia: the archaization of everyday practices, the decline in the living standards of the population, and the revitalization of ethnic self-organization structures. It is concluded that in future ‘northern’ projects, it is necessary to combine the mobilization and market strategies for the development of the Arctic.

«Вторая жена» в Дагестане: мотивация брачного поведения и социальное самочувствие

Introduction. The article raises the problem of polygamy, which is relevant for the Dagestan society, as a family and marriage practice, revived in the post-Soviet period of Russian statehood. This practice is negatively perceived by the majority of the population of the republic, despite the fact that it is not becoming less common. The attempt to answer the question of what this is connected with determined the main goal of this work - to reveal the opinion of the “second wives” themselves about the reasons for entering into Muslim marriage with a man already connected by family ties, and also to assess their social well-being in the context of the situation that has developed for them. Aspects of society of negative attitudes and problems that they have to face as a result of the chosen strategy of marital behavior. Methods. The article uses the results of the author's sociological surveys: a mass survey conducted in 2021 in the Republic of Dagestan (N=507) on a representative sample (taking into account such social characteristics of respondents as age, education, place of residence, attitude to religion, income level, social status), as well as a semi-structured interview among Dagestan women who are in the status of "second wife" (N=29). Results of research and its discussion. According to the results of the study, it was found that the women surveyed argued their decision to start a family with a married man by the desire to have a child in a legal, from the point of view of Islam, marriage union. The motivation for entering into a Muslim marriage in the status of a “second wife” is also a feeling of love, as well as the conviction of the legality of such a marriage and its equivalence with a marriage formalized according to secular traditions. The results of the interview testify to the perception of their social status by “second wives” that is adequate to the realities, which is determined by the negative attitude towards polygamy in Dagestan society and the low responsibility of Muslim husbands, who often do not follow the norms of Islamic ethics regarding family life in the format of polygamy. Many of the respondents would not dare to take this step again if there was an opportunity to return to the past. The subject of frustration is the difficulty resulting from the inability or unwillingness of Muslim husbands to equally distribute financial and emotional resources equally between wives and children in both families. In view of this, the problem of infringement of the rights of "second wives", their children and, in general, polygamy is being actively discussed in the socio-political and scientific circles of Dagestan society.

STUDENT SAMBO IN CHUVASHIA: EVOLVEMENT AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT

As part of implementing national development projects of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030, a special place is given to student sports as a factor ensuring formation of active participants in social interactions. At this, special emphasis is placed on popularization of domestic sports, especially sambo, as a national treasure of Russia. All this actualizes the question of finding promising ways to develop student sambo, both at the federal and regional levels. Taking into account the indicated relevance, the search for promising directions for the development of student sambo in the Chuvash Republic was considered as the purpose of the study. Based on a retrospective analysis of archival data and periodical publications, some aspects and stages in the development of student sambo in the Chuvash Republic were identified for the first time, and a promising direction in its development was scientifically substantiated. In the context of the stated purpose of the study, its main methods were the analysis and generalization of data from archival sources, publications in periodicals, information from scientific and methodological literature and Internet sources. Based on a systematic approach, the authors consider student sambo in Chuvashia as a structural component of the Russian student sports system, which is an important element of the international student sports system. A brief historical insight of the international student sports movement is presented. Some aspects of student sports formation in the Russian Empire and the USSR are considered. Formation in 1957 of the voluntary student sports society “Burevestnik” is noted to be a consequence of the state policy in the field of physical culture and sports movement in the period of the 1930s – 1950s. However, taking into account the changed socio-economic conditions, in 1993 it was reorganized into the Russian Student Sports Union, which served as an impetus for creating its republican branch. The contribution to popularization and development of sambo within the framework of the republican Russian Student Sports Union by its first head, the head of Physical Education and Sports Department at I.N. Ulianov Chuvash State University, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor O.A. Markiyanov is evaluated. Based on the retrospective analysis of research materials, the stages in student sambo formation and development in Chuvashia in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods are considered in the chronological order. Statistical data on participation of Chuvash sambo students in competitions at the republican, All-Russian and international levels are given. Attention is focused on the fact that creation of the All-Russian Student Sambo League had a significant importance in the development of student sambo in Russia in general and in Chuvashia in particular. Under its auspices, not only various sambo championships and championships among students were organized, but also mutual contacts between universities of the country cultivating the domestic type of wrestling were intensified. The results of the study supplement the regional history with information on evolvement and development of student sambo in Chuvashia in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. They can be used in training specialists in the field of physical culture and sports, as well as in advanced training courses. The results of the study can be taken into account when making some managerial decisions on the development of student sports at the regional level. Generalization of the source data based on a systematic approach gives grounds to state that student sambo of Chuvashia, having passed the stages of evolvement and development, has already acquired its own system organization. At this, it is a structural element of regional and Russian student sports. In this regard, it is concluded that further dynamic development of student sambo in Chuvashia, as a system-based construct, is possible provided its “openness” increases. In this vein, a practical recommendation is formulated.

DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN THE FIELD OF AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA (LATE XX – EARLY XXI CENTURY): TO THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE PROBLEM

The issues of agrarian education evolvement in the USSR have been disclosed in sufficient detail in research, but the system of personnel training for agriculture in Russia in the post-Soviet period is covered very fragmentary. The article attempts to bring together individual research studies devoted to the development of vocational education in the agricultural sector of the Russian economy of the late XX – early XXI century. In our work, we focused on the views of researchers, government and public figures whose professional interests are related to agriculture.
 
 The historiography of the problem was divided into three groups: the first of them included publications of statesmen who develop legislative initiatives and implement public administration of the agro–industrial complex; the second group of publications consisted of analytical articles by scientists – specialists in the field of agriculture; the third group of studies is large analytical works prepared in the form of monographs, as well as doctoral and candidate dissertations. The main thematic blocks were: state policy in the field of higher agricultural education; the role of agricultural education in the development of the agro-industrial complex of Russia; the state and trends in the dynamics of agricultural education in Russia; the development of university science; the state agrarian policy in the context of reforming Russian society; secondary specialized agricultural education; personnel training for the agricultural sector of the economy of the Russian Federation regions. Most authors bring up issues about the need to increase state programs and measures to support agricultural universities, popularize and increase the prestige of agricultural education among young people.

Russian Big Business Under Sanctions: The Dilemma Between Loyalty and Exit

The article addresses behavioral strategies of top Russian entrepreneurs operating in the export and resource sectors in the context of comprehensive sanctions imposed by Western countries. The choice of behavioral strategy is considered in the context of two types of networking that have developed in the post-Soviet period. The first type of networking implies the involvement into the inner economic chains supported by the ruling group. In the second type of networking, the participants are involved into global value chains (GVCs). Two framework strategies of behavior emerged after the first “wave” of sanctions imposed in 2014. The first strategy was adopted by top entrepreneurs who have deep friendly relations with the "ruler". The proponents of this strategy, being supported by the ruling group, transformed into the operators of quasi-public resources with the minimum dependence on GVCs. The second strategy was formed by the owners of Alfa Group who sought to emphasize their political neutrality. The imposition of sanctions in 2022 showed that the first strategy was productive. Meanwhile, the strategy of Alfa Group members turned out to be a failure – the entrepreneurs were not protected from the Western sanctions and devalued their position in the Russian power vertical. Since the amount of resources distributed by the ruling group is limited, the strategy of the Russian top entrepreneurs is based on finding the balance within the two types of networking

ПАРАДОКСЫ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНО-ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННОГО РАЗВИТИЯ РОССИИ

Objective of the study is to identify the main trends in the development of Russian regions that were formed throughout the post-Soviet period. The article presents the results of a retrospective analysis of data obtained in the course of studies of Russian regions from the early 1990s to 2022. The methodological basis of the research. In the course of the study, various theoretical and methodological approaches were used, including A. Touraine's actionism, actor-network theory, the concept of a society of universal risk, the concept of a systemic accident. Perrow and a number of others, including the approach developed by the author of the article based on the contradiction of free and normalized action. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used in the research. A retrospective study of their results is based on the interpretation of globalization as flows and networks and the theory of the global city. Research results. The article shows that spatial development is not identical to regional development, and economic development in the regional space may be unrelated or poorly connected with the vital activity of local society. Its main actors are Moscow (at the place of registration and payment of taxes) corporations. The formalization and bureaucratization of the federal administration increases the possibilities of its centralization, which does not contribute to regional development. Governance in Russian conditions has always combined centralization with a certain freedom of action of regional and local actors due to the vastness of the territory and the diversity of regional life. The lack of autonomy in decision-making at the regional and local levels, standardization of requirements in vital areas for the population (education and health) lead to their degradation and, as a result, become factors of depopulation of vast territories. Modern spatial transformations are focused on the formation of a communication network characteristic of the era of globalization with large agglomerations as nodes. It has an indirect relation to the development of regions, being carried out on their territory and at the expense of their resources. The article also demonstrates the traditional connection between industrial and socio-cultural development in Russia on the example of the Chelyabinsk region. It is shown that the technocratic nature of modern transformations leads to the formation of a cosmopolitan identity. Prospects of the study are connected with further research of the main vectors of territorial and spatial development of Russian regions, which are associated with the economic, technological and socio-cultural development of Russia as a whole.

Международная деятельность Пандито Хамбо-ламы Ж.Д. Гомбоева как проявление народной дипломатии

The article deals with the international activities of the Buryat Buddhist clergy in the Soviet and post-Soviet period. Since the 1950s Buddhist clerics traveled abroad and took an active part in building a peaceful community and the movement for nuclear disarmament. The paper shows that during the years of Soviet power, the head of the Buddhist clergy the 19th Pandito Khambo Lama Zh.D. Gomboev made an invaluable contribution to establishing and strengthening the ties of the Buddhists of the USSR with Buddhists of the other countries and the international recognition of its policy. The Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, founded with his participation, has become a significant non-governmental religious organization designed to expand and strengthen the friendly relations of the USSR / Russian Federation with Asian countries whose population professes Buddhism.

THE SYMBOLIC SPACE OF THE MARI NATIONAL IDEA. THE MYTH IN THE ACTUALIZATION OF MARI IDENTITY IN THE POST-SOVIET PERIOD

In the article the author, based on field materials (interviews and questionnaires), collected in places populated by the Mari people, analyzes the semiotic space of the Mari national movement of the late 20th - early 21st centuries. Special attention is paid to personified symbols of the Mari identity (Onar, Humo, Humyn Ydyr, Shyipy Pompalche), which are perceived by the respondents as “universal” and appear in the activities of ethno-cultural activists. Based on the theory of ethnosymbolism, the author scrutinizes the characters of myths and fairy tales as uniting a dispersed ethnic community into a group with the autonomy and a national idea. The article gradually examines the process of the “revival” of the Mari national movement in the post-Soviet period of national history, as well as the concept of national identity in relation to the regional ethno-cultural activism.

Russia’s Place on the Legal Map of the World (a Comparative Analysis of the Positions of Russian Comparatives)

The last three decades have been marked by the intensification of comparative studies in our country, an important plot of which is to determine Russia’s place on the legal map of the world. Russian comparative studies initially, since the 19th century, developed in the East — West ideological paradigm.In the post-Soviet period, an opportunity arose to rethink the global system of legal coordinates, especially in the light of modern international turbulence. Among the comparative works published by Russian publishing houses, attention is drawn to those that quite clearly define Russia’s belonging to the Romano-Germanic legal family. Indeed, in structural and functional terms, the Russian legal system has many acquired features similar to individual parameters of the Romano-Germanic legal family. However, one should also agree with those researchers who point to the incompleteness of the legal self-determination of Russia, to the existence of some alternatives for its further development.The author of the article assumes that the state of legal consciousness and legal culture, together with other factors of public life, is of great importance for legal identification. At the same time, in his opinion, the pan-Slavic tradition was not of great importance for Russia due to the active expansion of the West to the East. On the other hand, until the end of the 1980s, the socialist legal family was a very real phenomenon. At the moment, apparently, Russia is more and more showing itself as the initiator of the emerging Eurasian legal system. However, this process is clearly not completed. In any case, the legal system of our country, as Professor V. N. Sinyukov, “belongs to a special type of legal civilization”.

Protest Scenes in the Poetry of Muhammed Salih

This article examines the appearance of protest elements in the poetry of Muhammed Salih, an Uzbek poet, a representative of the «Metaphorist school» in Soviet Uzbek literature and the founder of protest and emigration poetry. In order to clarify this issue from all angles, the poet's protest poems were classified into two macrogroups: Soviet Union period (anti-Sovietism) and post-Soviet period protest (post-anti-Sovietism). The protest motif in the poet Salih's poetry can be noted as a new facet of the research work in the context of this article for the first time in the literature of Kazakhstan. In the first part of the article, the problem of nationalism (Turkism) and anti-Sovietism, which have become the main theme in M. Salih's work in the last forty years, was comprehensively analyzed. By using several literary methods, the characteristics of anti-Soviet protest, longing for independence and the achievement of sovereignty in the poet's poems were determined. The object and subject of the leitmotif «awakening» were studied in such poems as «Mother's Word», «Mouse in the Cage», «Awakening» written in this period. Focusing on the physics and metaphysics of the poems, the influence of the literature of the modernists before him was discussed. Special attention was paid to the beauty of allegory and metaphor in his poems and the peculiarity of writing, the meaning hidden in the surface of his poetry. The use of symbols and motifs characteristic of the classicist literature in the poet's poems was studied. In the second part of the article, the feature of protest poetry in the post-Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan was studied. On the basis of M. Salih's poetry, the expression of critical ideas and values such as independence, civil society, freedom of speech, and human rights were analyzed. The process of development of emigration literature in modern Uzbek literature was differentiated based on the poet's poems such as «Strange tree», «Love of the enemy of the people for the homeland», «Prayer of the exiled exile». The characteristics of Salih's poetic nature were comprehensively demonstrated. The influence of the poet's political and literary life in emigration was analyzed in a comparative and synergistic aspect. In M. Salih's protest poetry, the themes of Turkish unity and independence of Turkestan, which are of special importance, are partially connected with his nationalist (Turkish) poems. In the framework of such studies, an analytical forecast was made for the development of protest literature in modern Uzbek literature, the topics and issues raised, poetic power, and influence in the formation of civil society. The article focuses on the manifestations of protests during the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet period in M. Salih's works, and his poems are studied from several angles. His struggle for justice and his contribution to world knowledge were also taken into consideration.

At the BAM We Had Everything! Consumption Good Supplies for Workers of the All-Union Komsomol Сonstruction Project

The paper analyzes trade and supply services for the Baikal-Amur Mainline Railway (BAM) builders during the years 1974-1989. It describes the distribution system of goods, the forms of consumer behavior as well as consumption practices among participants of the project. The sources used for this study include office documents and statistics of the Soviet Ministry for Transport Construction, of building companies and municipalities, as well as of party and public organizations, next to oral testimonies given by former BAM construction workers that the author recorded during fieldwork. The author analyzes the establishment of trade enterprises and their technical equipment. Important is that the BAM trade network was created in a short time, and was meant to be temporary. During the whole period the system was plagued by a shortage of retail and warehouse facilities, and by insufficient support. At the same time, a special supply regime was in place to attract labor to BAM, and also to contribute to the subsistence of the population in the new development areas. While personal testimonies described trade services exclusively as privileged, the documentary evidence shows that the supply system faced difficulties similar to problems in ordinary Soviet trade. As a privilege regime came in combination with systemic malfunctions in the trade industry, specific practices were developed for the distribution and consumption of goods. Many of these practices were continued by local residents in the post-Soviet period.

Foreign-Russian Bilingualism in the School System of The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

The article is devoted to the formation of foreign-Russian bilingualism in the education system of Kabardino-Balkaria. The relevance of the problem under consideration is due to the social need for regional bilingualism in a multi-national, multilingual, multicultural republic, which is the CBD, the stable mass character of bilingualism in which is predetermined by the coexistence, cofunctioning of Russian, Kabardian and Balkar languages. The purpose is to consider some trends in the development of bilingualism in the region, since education is the most significant and massively organized sphere of communication that influences the formation of a bilingual personality in a multiethnic and multicultural environment. The paper uses the method of retrospective analysis. Based on the study of the results of all-Union population censuses, which made it possible to trace the dynamics of the formation of foreign-Russian bilingualism, as well as legal and local acts of the Soviet and postSoviet periods that influenced the language situation, the features of the interaction of the Russian language and the languages of the titular peoples of the republic, the factors of the dominance of the Russian language in all functional areas.

Contextualising Appraisal and the Destruction of the Soviet Design Institute’s Archives

Recently, historians and theorists of architecture have started questioning the neutrality of traditional archival research methods by uncovering the operations of power and authority inherent to the creation, appraisal, accessioning, or erasure of historical documents and the institutionalisation of official and unofficial archives. Most of this research is based on analyses of archiving in Euro-American and (post-) colonial contexts; consequently, there is limited understanding of the politics and practices of archiving architecture in both former and current state-socialist countries. The paper addresses this lacuna by exploring different ways of archiving a single design practice, the Giproteatr Institute, one of the central organisations behind the construction of buildings for culture and the performing arts in the Soviet Union and beyond. By reconstructing the changing material and economic conditions of architectural labour in the late Soviet and immediate post-Soviet periods, precedents of authorised and unauthorised destruction of architectural documents, archival regulations, and appraisal procedures, the paper demonstrates that Giproteatr Institute’s archives are in themselves historical and carry different definitions of archival value and of the architectural profession. Therefore, the paper further problematises the notion of ‘evidence’ in architectural history and advocates for strengthening the focus on analysis of material processes of archiving.

Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border-Territorial Disputes in the Post-Soviet Period

The article discusses the process of settling territorial disputes between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the postSoviet period. It is emphasized that they are a Soviet legacy that arose as a result of the thoughtlessly carried out national-territorial delimitation in the first years of Soviet power. Border-territorial problems between the republics are very relevant, since they have a great impact on interstate relations, regional integration, security and stability in the region. The problem of enclaves plays an important role in bilateral relations. Between the inhabitants of the border regions of neighboring states, skirmishes often occur over land and water resources, pastures, and transport arteries, which sometimes develop into open clashes. It was only after Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power that there was a breakthrough in the settlement of territorial disputes. This is evidenced by the signing in 2017 of an agreement on the coordination of 1170 (out of 1380) km of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, which is a great achievement in solving border problems.