Socio-cultural Institutions Research Articles

Cultural Crisis of Caste Renouncer: A Study of Dasnami Sanyasi Identity in Nepal

Jat Nasodhanu Jogiko is a famous mocking proverb to denote the caste status of Sanyasi because the renouncer has given up traditional caste rituals set by socio-cultural institutions. In other cultural terms, being Sanyasi means having dissociation himself/herself with whatever caste career or caste-based social rank one might imagine. To explore the philosophical foundation of Sanyasi, they sacrificed caste rituals and fire (symbol of power, desire, and creation). By the virtues of sacrifice, Sanyasi set images of universalism, higher than caste order, and otherworldly being. Therefore, one should not ask the renouncer caste identity. Traditionally, Sanyasi lived in Akhada or Matha, and leadership, including ownership of the Matha transformed from Guru to Chela. On the contrary, Dasnami Mahanta started marital and private life, which is paradoxical to the philosophy of Sanyasi. Very few of them are living in Matha, but the ownership of the property of Mathatrans formed from father to son. The land and property of many Mathas transformed from religious Guthi to private property. In terms of cultural practices, Dasnami Sanyasi adopted high caste culture and rituals in their everyday life. Old Muluki Ain 1854 ranked them under Tagadhari, although they did not assert twice-born caste in Nepal. Central Bureau of Statistics, including other government institutions of Nepal, listed Dasnamiunder the line of Chhetri and Thakuri. The main objective of the paper is to explore the transformation of Dasnami institutional characteristics and status from caste renunciation identity to caste rejoinder and from images of monasticism, celibacy, universalism, otherworldly orientation to marital, individualistic lay life. Both philosophical orientation and behaviors are transformed. Who are the Dasnami Sanyasi? Why did the Dasnami Sanyasis campaign for the identity? How has the Dasnami Sanyasi been changing? Based on key informant interviews, observations in different Dasnami Sanyasi communities, their historical institutions, and self-reflection as a member of Dasnami Sanyasiare methods of data collection.

Theater as a Socio-Cultural Institution: Overcoming Basic Conventions

The paper is devoted to exploring the process of reinventing institutional conventions of theatrical art. After describing a series of contemporary performance phenomena, the author uses the “institution” concept from the theory of social construction of reality and methods of deconstruction to identify the distinguishing features of the new theater and/or “postdramatic theater” / or “post-performance turn” theater. The change, as demonstrated in the paper, is primarily connected with the theater’s abandoning its basic mimetic aim, the aim of simulating / depicting reality, i.e. referencing something other than itself, while the performance accordingly ceases to be a text, a carrier of a certain narration, plot and, eventually, an intrinsic sense, a message to the viewer. This abandonment is made necessary by the universal emergence of the media prevalence era that turns everything into a “theater”, so the theater, in its contemporary manifestations, is striving more and more to become “non-theater”. Its trives to be based primarily on what only the theater has: a vital energy of interaction; first of all, interaction between the actor and the viewer, or action participants (who turn out to be both actors and viewers) organized in a certain way, or the energy of the performance space itself, or the energy of its participants’ motion. In conclusion, the author argues that contemporary theater – in fact, just like any institution reinventing its basic concepts – presents a certain anthropological challenge: firstly, it appeals to a different paradigm of perception; secondly, it requires a higher level of agency of the individual perceiving the art.

Emerging sustainability concerns and policy implications of urban household consumption: A systematic literature review

Abstract The 2015 Paris Agreement marked a significant shift in public and scholarly discourse on climate change by laying more emphasis on stakeholder involvement and local level policies in achieving sustainability transitions. Sustainable Development Goal 12 further emphasises the importance of households in achieving sustainable consumption before 2030, especially in urban centres. However, since its adoption in 2015, no study has sought to synthesise the scholarship conducted around the emerging urban household consumption challenges that could inhibit the achievement of Goal 12. Through a systematic selection and in-depth review of relevant literature over the last five years, this paper assesses these sustainability challenges and critically examines the policy implications for achieving sustainable consumption. The review notes that in recent years, researchers have explored a range of issues including energy consumption, sustainable lifestyles, consumption footprints and class relations in urban household consumption through models and social perspectives. The urban household challenges identified include, inter alia: intensifying household consumption; rising commodification of household activities; continued reliance on unsustainable energy sources; low levels of sustainability education; high costs of sustainable lifestyles; and class differences in sustainable consumption patterns. In addressing these problems, the literature suggests strategies such as greening urban infrastructure, involving households in intervention programmes and promoting sustainability education, among others. Furthermore, to achieve Goal 12, future research and policy initiatives should consider the impact of materiality in household consumption, explore the interlinkages of household consumption with wider socio-cultural institutions and be more practice-oriented.

From Myth to History: The Emergence of Historiographical Tradition in China

The Chinese civilization, despite having experienced many historical shocks, shows consistency in its sociocultural institutions and adherence to traditional values which were formed in ancient times. Many experts claim the Chinese people’s deep knowledge and respect for their history is one of the reasons for China’s cultural consistency. The worship of antiquity is one of the important characteristics traced in many spheres of Chinese history. In this paper, we will elaborate on the issue of the basis for the emergence of this worship. The studied phenomenon arose during the Zhou period and was strengthened by Confucius and his disciples. Since then, antiquity worship hasn’t been revised by society. The formation of antiquity worship in traditional China went gradually, and a total reshaping of Ancient China’s spiritual life was needed for that. In this research, we will try to find out how this worship came to be. Such analysis is not only interesting for the studies of Chinese civilization but also for the research of the specifics of the Middle Kingdom’s spiritual culture. The analysis of cultural specifics of China must help uncover the mechanisms of this civilization’s consistency.

Funkcje przedsiębiorstw medialnych w świetle odpowiedzialności

Funkcje przedsiębiorstw medialnych w świetle odpowiedzialności. Przedsiębiorstwa medialne różnią się od innych przedsiębiorstw specyfiką misji społecznej. Przedsiębiorstwa medialne są producentami nie tylko dóbr materialnych, ale również i dóbr kulturowych. Należy je postrzegać zarówno jako przedsięwzięcie gospodarcze (komercyjne) nastawione na zapewnienie zysku ich właścicielom, tworzenie miejsc pracy, przyczynianie się do rozwoju gospodarczego i polepszenia standardu życia, ale także jako instytucje społeczno-kulturowe, ważne dla ogólnego rozwoju poszczególnych jednostek i całej społeczności, w której działają. W niniejszym artykule spróbuję określić funkcje gospodarcze i funkcje społeczno-kulturowe, jakie mają do zrealizowania przedsiębiorstwa medialne.

Territorialising control in urban West Bengal: Social clubs and everyday governance in the spaces between state and party

Analysis of politics in urban West Bengal has focussed on the near hegemonic control of political parties and the state on daily life – overlooking or under-accounting for the complex institutional assemblages that shape spaces of the political in daily life. Addressing this empirical gap, this paper examines the role of social clubs, who discursively imagine themselves to be not political in governing the city. I demonstrate the ways that clubs, as a particular socio-cultural institution, territorialise power in order to produce governable space and in turn act as both alternative to the state and party and intermediaries with them. Mobilising evidence from extensive qualitative research on governance in two small cities I seek to complicate and nuance existing narratives on everyday politics, the party and the role of clubs in West Bengal. And in doing so offer theoretical contributions to the ways we understand political subjects and the social production of the heterogeneous overlapping territories of governance that characterise postcolonial cities.

Functions of a Community Center in the Socio-Cultural Environment of the Present

The aim of this paper is to define the functions of a community center under the conditions of contemporary socio-cultural space.Research methodology. Scientific provisions of the research are argued at the level of a set of general scientific methods of knowledge (analytical, source study, historical) and cultural approaches: typological and evolutionary methods, as well as the method of system analysis and synthesis. Results. It was revealed that community centers are leisure centers for all categories of the population in the socio-cultural environment of the 21st century, subject to qualitative and professional organization, that makes them diverse and spiritually rich. At the present time the socio-cultural institutions perform different functions related to the leisure needs of youth, trying to offer a variety of forms and types of entertainment programs according to the age structure.Novelty. The activity of community centers in the historical perspective and at the present stage is explored; the concept «community center» is specified and its functions are defined under the conditions of contemporary socio-cultural space. The purpose, tasks and main functions of a community center (recreational, communication, educational and compensatory-relaxation) are analyzed.The practical significance of the research may be used in developing lectures by specialists in cultural studies.

“Childless? Childfree? Neither, Just ME”: pronatalism and (m)otherhood in Paula Knight’s The Facts of Life

ABSTRACT Defining female identity primarily in terms of their childbearing capacity is prevalent across cultures. Centrality of motherhood within discursive formations of womanhood has resulted in establishing inextricable linkages between maternity and femininity. The reproductive ethic privileged by sociocultural discourses and institutions, which are impelled by the pervasive ideology of pronatalism, coerces women to procreate, reducing their identity to mere reproducing bodies. Consequently, those who are unable to reproduce due to fertility-related disorders encounter severe cultural derision and social stigmatisation. Paula Knight’s autopathography The Facts of Life is a harrowing account of the author’s struggles with infertility in a pronatal society. In a close reading of Knight’s graphic memoir, this article aims to investigate how the pluripotent space of the comics medium allows the author to arraign the ideology of pronatalism as an oppressive force that mediates her lived experience of infertility. Drawing theoretical insights from Ellen Peck, Judith Senderowitz, and Louis Althusser, among others, the essay also seeks to examine the socially constructed and gendered nature of (m)otherhood as it unfolds in Knight’s narrative.

Where less is more: institutional voids and business families in Sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a conceptual interpretation of the role business families play in the institutional context of sub-Saharan Africa, characterised by voids within the formal institutional setting. Responding to calls to take a holistic perspective of the institutional environment, we develop a conceptual model, showcasing the emergence of relational familial logics within business families that enable these enterprising organisations to navigate the political, economic and socio-cultural terrain of this institutional context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors undertake a review of extant literature on institutional theory, institutional voids, family business and business families and examine the relevance of these theoretical constructs in relation to the institutional environment of Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors offer tentative propositions within our conceptualisation, which the authors discuss in an inductive fashion.FindingsThe review underlines the relevance of informal political, economic and socio-cultural institutions within the sub-Saharan context, within which the family as an institution drives business families engagement in institutional entrepreneurship. In doing so, the authors argue business families are best positioned to navigate the existing Sub-Saharan African institutional context. The authors underline the critical relevance of the embeddedness of social relationships that underpin relational familial logic within the sub-Saharan African collectivist socio-cultural system.Originality/valueBy challenging the assumptions that institutional voids are empty spaces devoid of institutions, the authors offer an alternative view that institutional voids are spaces where there exists a misalignment of formal and informal institutions. The authors argue that in such contexts within Sub-Saharan Africa, business families are best placed to harness their embeddedness within extended family and community for entrepreneurial activity. The authors argue that family and business logics may complement each other rather than compete. The discussions and propositions have implications for future research on business families and more inclusive forms of family organisations.

The limits and promises of embeddedness as a strategy for social value creation

PurposeMultinational enterprises (MNEs) attempting to create social value in base of the pyramid (BoP) economies are encumbered by unique market and institutional barriers. To overcome these challenges, BoP scholars have advocated the strategy of using embeddedness as a replacement for inefficient formal institutions. Reliance on informal social ties for coordinating market exchange, however, leads to costly investments, exposure to opportunism and the creation of nontransferable capabilities. This paper aims to investigate these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors argue that embeddedness should be used as an intermediate step toward developing more enduring formal institutions rather than as a replacement for them.FindingsThe authors put forward the notion of proto-institutions as a useful concept for exploring how MNEs can engage in co-designing efficient and inclusive institutional forms aimed at engendering long-term social value creation.Originality/valueThe authors identify three institutional fields wherein MNEs can leverage social embeddedness to develop proto-institutions that are potentially transferable to become formal institutions. First, MNEs can build governance institutions that can enhance coordination among local actors. Second, MNEs can experiment with small-scale change and adaptation of market institutions that reduce transaction costs and facilitate market exchanges. For example, improved institutional practices in value chain governance can boost business performance while also improving the livelihoods of supply chain partners. Finally, the authors discuss the potential for developing favorable socio-cultural institutions by introducing new principles of organizing or educational practices.

Toward substantiation of budget-funding of modern Ukrainian repertory theater

The paper is devoted to the problem of finding ways to fully justify the budget support of the contemporary Ukrainian repertory theaters as one of the strategic directions for their further survival and development. The work has proved that the theater of this kind is a public socio-cultural institution, serving to educate, develop, communicate and go for a new level of propaganda and awareness of the national self-identity of the people, engaged in it. However, the theater also acts as a business entity, creating jobs, paying taxes, supporting restaurant-hotel-tourist and other kinds of businesses that provide various related services, acting as an infrastructure-creating component. The repertory theater as an institution is an integral part of a more extended institution – the state. The latter should provide financial support to repertory theaters which are legislatively regarded to be non-profit organizations. Experience shows that the support is usually rendered with whatever funds remain. The theater is financed in the last turn with the remainder of the state funds, because theaters are referred to the group of loss-making institutions. Such a policy is vicious, since the author of this publication has proved that in fact the theater performs a very important function of a recreation space. The theater restores the productive resource of the state (region) – the human capital of both a person and society. The present publication for the first time proposes approaches to a direct estimation of possible losses in the gross domestic product incurred by the state (region) when it neglects the financial support of its repertory theaters. The work proves that: the repertory theater is not a planned unprofitable business entity; the most urgent task is to develop a technique for measuring the contribution of the theater to the state or regional economy; the theater has every reason to claim a certain portion of the income earned by it for the state or a region; the theater has every reason to rely on a more favorable fiscal policy of the state or regional authorities, which would encourage it to work more efficiently.

Cultural and Moral Implications of Soli and Its Effects on Journalism in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACTThe issue of soli (Soli is a Ghanaian journalistic parlance referring to the practice where journalists accept money or other forms of gifts as sitting allowance after covering an event.) or content-influencing gifts and its relations to the professional practice of journalist and other media workers has become a subject of discussion among academic researchers and general audiences. It is against this background that this article examines media practitioners’ understanding of the culture and moral implications of soli and its effects on professional journalism in the northern region of Ghana. Using qualitative approaches, the study revealed that in Ghana, soli is both a moral and cultural problem, and when accepted, it undermines objective, balanced, and independent news reportage. This project concludes that any discourse on soli must take into consideration the cultural and philosophical foundations of journalism within a developmental context, as well as the various global socio-cultural institutions Ghanaians are exposed to.

Mujeres-madres que trabajan. La resignificación de la maternidad en mujeres profesionistas en Guadalajara-México

The purpose of this article is to analyze the resignifications of motherhood among female professionals with children residing in Guadalajara, Mexico. We argue that the transformations of the representation of motherhood and of the mother—like sociocultural institutions—are promoted and suffered by those women who “want everything”, that is, those who do not give up their professional projects, and neither give up their reproductive capacities which they conceive as part of what being a woman means to them. To account for the above, we analyzed four biographical interviews conducted with the life story technique. The results show the tensions, conflicts and guilt experienced by the professional women who work and who are mothers, as well as the way in which they experience at the same time feelings of personal self-affirmation and feelings of pride.

Interaction of economic interests in society: a retrospective analysis of achievements of economic science

The article is devoted to the identification of theoretical and methodological problems that occur while studying the harmonization of economic interests. On the basis of the analysis of the evolution of the views of scholars of the past and present on the interaction of economic interests insociety, the existence of a wide amalgam of thoughts, ideas and conceptual approaches that were introduced in this field by representatives of different directions of economic science has been established. In the course of the study, four basic logic-theoretical lines were identified, which were formed in the process of scientific search for conditions and mechanism of harmonization of economic interests. The first line is the formation of ideas about the existence of interconnection and interdependence of economic interests, which posed the problem of finding a mechanism for their coordination. The second line is the question of creating such a mechanism. In this direction, the approaches are either emphasized according to which the interests are considered to be harmonized by the action of objective economic laws and directly through the market mechanism of self-regulation, or else the impossibility of harmonization in the automatic mode is pointed out. Psychological features of people, their moral imperfection, tendency to affective and illogical actions can not be regulated by the market. In order to solve this problem, an external force is involved, which, according to various researchers, acts as a moral, state, law, socio-cultural institutions. The third line is a solution of the question about the state's ability to effectively influence the harmonization of interests. In this regard, scientists have quite different positions - from confidence in the effectiveness of state influence on the conditions of realization of economic interests to the detection of «failures» of the state. The fourth line is intuitive ideas of scholars about the reproduction of economic interests, which is manifested in the constant repetition of the situation of income and product movement, which occurs in society under the pressure of the desire for the welfare of each social class. The practical importance of the idea of existence of reproduction of economic interests is shown, which allows to establish the conditionality of realization of interests by objective social factors.

Between the Transit Prison and the Nobleman’s Drawing-room: Doctor Haas’s Publishing Projects in the 1840s

The article is dedicated to the publishing projects of doctor Haas, a Moscow medical man and philanthropist, and is based on the materials of the ecclesiastical censorship archival holdings. Haas published books aimed at the reforming of convicts who went to Siberia through transit prison. ‘On the margins’ of his enlightenment activities missionary publishing projects, addressed to the educated urban society, were established. Haas could not confine himself to working with prisoners; he wanted to offer the Russian society Christian literature following the traditions of post-Tridentine spirituality. By this time, books and reading had taken shape as a specific sociocultural institute in the educated noble society, where the knowledge of French was acquired from childhood. In such circumstances Haas aimed to ensure not the influence, but the assimilation of Western (Roman Catholic) Christian texts into the Russian culture. The state ban on proselytism rendered the implementation of the most of these projects impossible. However, the institute of the ecclesiastical censorship itself did not rouse inner remonstrance in him. The opinions of Haas and of censors, governmental officials, who regulated the publishing, concerning conversion were hardly divergent. All of them assessed religious conversion positively. The censors followed the orders of the government, accepting in Haas’s publishing projects everything that was in line with state legal norms and political attitudes of those times. The censors did not contradict when the members of the Prison Committee preached Christian kindness to rude and aggressive prisoners. But Haas’s attempts to promote Catholic authors in educated circles turned out to be inacceptable.

Отношение крестьянского населения Казанской губернии к женскому обучению в начальных школах. Вторая половина XIX - начало XX в.

This article focuses on the problem of peasants’ attitude towards female education in rural schools of the Kazan gubernia. The author draws on a variety of archival and published sources: documents of management and record keeping of institutions responsible for schools functioning, statistical data, periodicals, etc. In pre-revolutionary Russia, peasants constituted the vast majority of the population. This fully applies to the Kazan gubernia, one of Russian agricultural regions. The specificity of the gubernia was in its multi-ethnic and multi-confessional population structure: the Russians, the Tatars, the Chuvash, the Mari, the Mordvins, the Udmurt, etc. An important factor in Russian modernization of the second half of the 19th - early 20th century was Zemstvo school, a significant sociocultural institution contributing to spiritual well-being and material welfare of the masses. It promoted basic literacy and, more importantly, inclusion of millions of liberated peasants into civil life. Expansion of the Zemstvo schools network was a step towards universal primary education. Zemstvo also attempted to solve the so-called “women’s question.” Believing that woman should be full member of the society, Zemstvo delegates sought to make primary education universal. The majority of rural schools in the Kazan gubernia were Zemstvo schools, where children of both sexes were trained, but for a long period of time boys predominated. For a long time it was believed that a woman does not need literacy, it was deemed a luxury. Farmers’ views on the education of girls and women changed over time, awareness of the need for their training grew. A noticeable progress occurred in the days of the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.

Contextual Intelligence: Reflection on Human Resources Management in Lebanese Hospitals

In a constantly changing and turbulent environment, healthcare leaders face many challenges including regulatory and policy changes, technological advancements and competition for healthcare professionals. Due to the highly competitive situation, it is pertinent for the hospitals to differentiate themselves from each other. Passionate healthcare professionals who strive to provide safe, high quality and patient-centered care add a competitive advantage to their organizations (Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997). To improve organization effectiveness, applied psychologists have established many tools and methods for employers to adopt in order to reach the intended effectiveness. Still, in practice, it is evident that applying best practices in Human Resources Management (HRM) without taking into consideration the contextual conditions of the organization may hinder the expected positive outcome of these efforts (Jackson, 1995). The contextual conditions are divided into the internal conditions that shape the organization’s internal environment; these factors include but are not limited to human resources, organizational structure, internal laws and regulations, customers, technology, services, and organizational culture; and the external conditions with which the organization interact such as legal environments, political structure, security conditions, unions, labor market conditions, and culture. The attention to feature the organizational Contextual Factors in hospitals is pushed to the front of healthcare leaders in order to understand their nature and find out the dynamic and mutual interaction with the organizational system. Hereafter, Organizational Contextual Intelligence is a skill leaders need in order to align their actions with objectives to create new strategies to adapt to new situations. Staff motivation and retention is one of the challenges facing leaders today. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a famous quote originated by the management expert Peter Drucker (Coffman, C. 2013). This means that a healthy organizational culture will defeat bad strategy. Therefore, boards and executive management should align organizational capabilities, strategy and culture to achieve organizational performance and value. However, a strategy that is applicable in one region may not be applicable anywhere else. Why is this the case? Humans are still humans. The secret lies in the interaction of sociocultural institutions, politics, demographic variables, and historical development. Human resources practices are culturally embedded. In other words, these practices are affected by the customs and norms of the society in which they operate. Many external organizational factors and sociocultural aspects affect human resources practices in Lebanon such as demographic factors, civil war, gender, family, religion, and education (Dirani, K. 2006). Such contextual complexities should be kept in mind when analyzing the Human Resources (HR) systems of different countries. In this paper, based on review of the available data on HR in Lebanon, the author explains how cultural and normative factors unique to Lebanon might affect HR situation in Lebanese Hospitals. Then the author presents his reflection on this topic raising some recommendations at the national and organizational levels. Furthermore, the presented recommendations could be a subject for further studies.

The Subculture of Male Unions as a Socio-Cultural Institution in Modern Societies

At the present time, in the socio-cultural space, there are many communities and subcultural movements attractive to young people and aimed at young people. Subcultural diversity, which constitutes the integrity of society’s culture, acts as a space for the formation of identification models and an alternative to cultural unification, which is increasingly embracing the world.Diversity is a source of social development and, under the conditions of cardinal cultural and civilizational changes, requires scientific understanding to justify the instruments of its support, on the one hand. On the other hand, it needs the development of practical recommendations and a system of measures for effective interaction of the state with subcultural communities.Male unions have an important role and active development in the life of society and in the subcultural environment. Historically representing a fundamental socio-cultural element of social development, they occupied a social niche and began to play an essential role in society in the 21st century.It is relevant to study the role of male unions in modern society because of the following factors: 1) the institution of male unions of ancient tribes, with their initiation rites, has acquired a new form and content and still exists, 2) the experience of studying the role of male unions demonstrates that they are included in a complex system of social and spiritual ties and have made a significant contribution to the formation of certain structures of society, once becoming a prototype of the modern armed forces, 3) currently possessing a large network of interpersonal closed ties, including those at the international level, and a well-established collective identity, male unions influence the functioning of the social system and its cultural and spiritual content.The article aims to describe the subculture of male unions represented by motorcycle clubs, as well as to determine the methodological problems associated with the study of motorcycle subculture as a socio-cultural component of society.The novelty of the article is in the generalization of life regularities of modern male unions as traditional socio-cultural institutions. The emergence of such a phenomenon makes it important to study the possible prospects for male unions’ development, their role and place in society, and interaction with them.

An Introduction to the Sattra Culture of Assam: Belief, Change in Tradition and Current Entanglement

Abstract In 16th-century Assam, Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449-1568) introduced a movement known as eka sarana nama dharma - a religion devoted to one God (Vishnu or Krishna). The focus of the movement was to introduce a new form of Vaishnava doctrine, dedicated to the reformation of society and to the abolition of practices such as animal sacrifice, goddess worship, and discrimination based on caste or religion. A new institutional order was conceptualised by Sankaradeva at that time for the betterment of human wellbeing, which was given shape by his chief disciple Madhavadeva. This came to be known as Sattra, a monastery-like religious and socio-cultural institution. Several Sattras were established by the disciples of Sankaradeva following his demise. Even though all Sattras derive from the broad tradition of Sankaradeva’s ideology, there is nevertheless some theological segmentation among different sects, and the manner of performing rituals differs from Sattra to Sattra. In this paper, my aim is to discuss the origin and subsequent transformations of Sattra as an institution. The article will also reflect upon the implication of traditions and of the process of traditionalisation in the context of Sattra culture. I will examine the power relations in Sattras: the influence of external forces and the support of locals to the Sattra authorities. This research is the result of various interactions and encounters in the field.

Исторический опыт формирования органов управления и проведения политики коренизации в национальных автономиях Юга России в 1920–1930 гг.

Domestic historiography (both Soviet and Russian ones) has paid considerable attention to studies of the organization and functioning of multi-leveled government structures supposed to administer the huge, multiethnic and multiconfessional country. The process of national-state construction and management of national and socio-economic problems in Southern Russia during this period – especially in the North Caucasus inhabited by dozens of ethnic groups with centuries-old cultures and religions – was basically difficult, and the especially difficult task to resolve was the essence and principles for handling land-territorial issues and structural government institutionalization. In the course of administrative procedures, national traditions and customs, peculiarities of national characters of the locals were to be taken into account; it was also required to diplomatically combine new and old forms of government, and, if necessary, turn to traditional governance institutions. With due ragard of the new realities ― transition to a new economic policy, collectivization ― the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) chose to pay special attention to non-Russian peoples, with an emphasis on the training of national cadres and their involvement in work within the newly established local authorities. Korenization (‘nativization’; Rus. korenizatsiya) of the state apparatus and socio-cultural institutions was initiated in national autonomies of Southern Russia which was basically the case with the rest of the country. The policy was perceived by the authorities as a major stipulation for the development of statehood of indigenous peoples, as ‘a means of pulling forth the culturally and economically backward non-Russians to the level of the advanced (nations)’. With the aid of the movement, the Bolshevik party sought, on the one hand, to strengthen its positions in the national regions, and, on the other, to spread Communist ideas among their populations. As is known, the national regions of Southern Russia experienced acute shortage of specialists that would be representatives of titular nationalities in state and public bodies, economic and cultural institutions, industry and in agriculture. To a certain extent, the national autonomies did form certain national cadres – active and obedient conductors of the Communist Party’s policy in respective regions, those who lived in constant fear of continuous repressions on behalf of the state and, as a result, could not protect the ethnic and national interests of their peoples sufficiently enough.