1.4.6 Human Capital in Rural Development: Russia and the World
Alexander Nikulin
Project Leader
Project period
2020-2025
Context of Research Project within a Subject of Human Capital
The study of the history and modernity of human capital in rural regions of Russia and the world is a strategic task in solving the issues of the sustainable development of mankind. Rural development largely depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities of local villagers. On the one hand, the demographic depopulation of rural areas, which has intensified in Russia and in many regions of the world over the past half century and leads to the degradation of human capital in rural areas, is a serious problem for the success of rural reforms. On the other hand, the rapid expansion of biotechnological and digital achievements in rural areas in the XXI century requires new approaches to the formation of human capital in rural areas.
The research project Human Capital in Rural Development: Russia and the World aims at a comprehensive study of both the preservation of the historical and cultural foundations of human capital in rural areas and the current stages of human capital formation in rural regions associated with the latest trends in the agrarian knowledge economy.
Project Aim
To consider the historical and modern dynamics of the human capital transformation in rural Russia and to compare it with the human capital transformation in other regions of the world
Project Objectives:
- To conduct a comparative study of the historical and modern significance of social capital in the rural development of Russian regions and a number of foreign countries, and to compare the municipal and regional rural development programs with the effectiveness of social capital
- To study the settlement structure, employment structure and main sources of villagers’ income
- To conduct interdisciplinary studies of human capital, its history and modernity, and the role of man in rural development as responses to the current challenges.
Key Findings
2020
In-depth interviews of rural residents, agricultural producers, representatives of rural municipalities and the social sphere of the village, teachers and students of agricultural universities and colleges were conducted. The social-anthropological study of the historical dynamics of rural settlements in Russia in the XX – XXI centuries was conducted
2021
Sociological exploratory studies of human capital issues were conducted in rural regions of the Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan Regions. The historical and sociological study of the peculiarities in the transformation of agrarian knowledge in the USSR allowed to show how these features can still affect the reproduction of human capital in rural areas. Theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches to the study of human capital in rural areas have been systematized
2022
For the first time in the scientific tradition, the views of American social anthropologist Jim Scott and Russian economist Alexander Chayanov on dynamics of socio-economic development based on preservation and development of human potential in specific territories and local communities have been compared.
The main theoretical and practical ideas of populism have been systematized from the point of view of their applicability and implementation in modern Russian society in the interests of preserving and developing human potential in rural areas.
A general description of the Russian organic products sector has been given, not only from an economic and consumer point of view, but also from a social point of view, as a significant factor in restoring and preserving the social and human capital of local communities in rural areas.
Publications
Nikulin, A. Encyclopedias as a Tool of Modernization: Stalinist Versions of Agrarian Knowledge (RU) // RUDN Journal of Sociology. 2021. Vol. 21. No. 1. pp. 154-168 (Q2).
Conferences
Seminar (with the international participants) Development of Border Regions: Opportunities, Challenges and Risks (RU) (Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2021)
Workshops for young researchers Exploring Borders (RU) (Moscow, Russia, December 21, 2021)