Vadim N. Rakachev

This article examines processes of national identity transformation in the context of long-established but evolving migration networks between Armenia and Southern Russia and how these processes may be integrated into national policy frameworks relating to social cohesion. The largest Armenian diaspora in southern Russia, numbering around half a million people as of 2022 (620,000 people), a significant part of whom were transnational labor migrants. Existing literature has examined changes in relevant identity narratives using qualitative methods. In contrast this article employs a novel procedure, combining social constructionist, transnational and network approaches with applied statistics methods. Drawing on international comparative sociological research conducted in Armenia and Southern Russia in 2021–2022, the paper traces the history and structure of these migration networks, as well as the new forms of national identity emerging within them. The project identified at least three varieties of networks that influence different understandings and lived experiences of national identity. The first relates to the old Armenian diaspora, formed in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, the second to communities formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the third to contemporary transnational communities, consisting mainly of labor migrants. The article also discusses the potential implications of these findings to policies of social cohesion in Armenia and Russia.

Based on the results of a sociological study conducted among the youth in the Krasnodar Krai in May–June 2021, this article examines the issues of interests and value orientations, life goals, and plans that determine the complex process of life self-determination among young people. The study sample consisted of 7,898 indi-viduals. According to the results obtained, the life self-determination of modern Russian youth occurs in the challenging context of a constantly transforming society, which is reflected in the specificity of their value orien-tations, interests, and goals. Structuring the interests of young people according to criteria such as “material – spiritual”, “personal – social”, it can be noted that in the sample as a whole, material and social interests are to some extent inferior to personal and spiritual ones. The uniqueness of youth as a socio-demographic group is also determined by the fact that the priority areas of interest are those related to leisure and self-development. Internet communication is an important tool for constructing personal identity as a result of the process of youth self-determination. At the same time, the topics of online communities with which young people associate themselves largely correlate with the identified structure of interests. In the context of satisfied needs, young people’s values of self-expression (ideal, prosperity) prevail over survival (material) values. Within the frame-work of the functional dimension, according to the type of orientations, values are shifted towards personal ones, while social ones are on the periphery of the system. In general, the cognitive-individualistic principle is at the forefront of the hierarchy of values of modern youth. Young people clearly envision their life goals, the achievement of which directly linked to their own efforts, while acknowledging the existence of individual and social barriers along the way.

Despite the existence of a variety of conceptual approaches to rural development, there is a lack of methods that take into account intangible assets, such as, for example, social capital, leadership, and local identity. A more effective design of the rural development strategy may be achieved by uncovering knowledge regarding the manifestation of various intangible resources. Territorial development policies, both in terms of the level of socio-economic development and the presence of intangible resources in rural areas, are investigated in this study. The main objective is to determine how intangible resources manifest in specific empirical models of development policy for rural settlements. A novel ensemble of indices and indicators of socio-economic development and the manifestation of intangible resources, calculated based on the method of analytical hierarchies and frequency analysis, are provided. These allow for a comprehensive study of the development of rural areas by clustering settlements with a similar level of development. Patterns and deficits of resources in rural settlements are analysed according to empirical models. Verification of the empirical models is carried out by assessing the level of socio-economic development and indicators of intangible resources for 12 rural settlements in the south of Russia. Therefore, several groups of factors of intangible resources splitting the factors related (reflect the current state) and unrelated (reflect the development potential) to the socio-economic development of rural settlements have been specified.

The objective of this study is to identify a specific set of functions that language(s) fulfill, to demonstrate which ones are relevant in the context of migration, and to illustrate how language choices are made, influenced by the language policy of the receiving state, as well as the way it is reflected in the linguistic awareness and the identity of the migrants. It is observed that migration into new territories is, as a rule, accompanied by considerable cultural changes, most notably linguistic. For the majority of migrants, relocation necessitates the acquisition of a new language, which is an indispensable factor for successful adaptation and integration into the host community. The analysis of the situation with Armenian migrants in Russia indicates that the functional space of language is characterized by a complex composition of the functions it performs. The most pertinent functions are those of stimulating and directing migration, the adaptation function, the function of preserving and reproducing ethnic culture, and the function of identification. The effective implementation of the aforementioned functions of language can facilitate a more favorable environment for migrants in the receiving society. This depends on the language policy, which must ensure that migrants possess the requisite linguistic competence while also fostering in them a sense of belonging to their new environment, taking into account their former preferences. It is also important to consider that the sense of belonging is contingent upon migrants’ intentions. These may include the desire to settle permanently, to establish oneself in the country, or to view it as a temporary destination. The article employs a comprehensive approach, integrating modern concepts of identity, migration, and sociolinguistics.

The development of rural areas of the Krasnodar region has to be studied within the framework of the spatial development policies implemented at the federal and regional levels and the features of social and demographic processes in the rural population of the region. The author concludes about significant structural changes in the composition of the rural population of the Kuban, which, due to the inertia of demographic processes, are not yet so noticeable today, but in the future may become irreversible. The author also notes that the development of rural areas in the region, in the presence of several general trends, is characterized by heterogeneity, which requires the development and implementation of spatial development programs considering the characteristics of specific rural areas. In addition, it should be considered that the models used in the implementation of rural development policies should consider not so much the economic component of the village (sectoral model), but focus on the development, first of all, of human capital in the unique conditions of a particular territory (neo-endogenous and territorial models).

One of the main intangible resources, along with regional and local identity, is human capital. Multiplying human capital is one of the main functions of the education system, including higher education. The theoretical framework of the study is defined by the concept of responsible development (I.S. Semenenko), the theories of “triple helix”, “preceding events” (path dependence) of P. David and “track of dependence”. The empirical base is represented by the results of a sociological study, held among students of Krasnodar universities in June 2022. As part of comprehensive analysis, documents of regional authorities and administration, and data from federal and regional statistics were used. The Krasnodar Krai was initially formed and integrated as an agricultural region; thus, the system of higher education focused largely on training specialists for agriculture and related industries. Structural transformations that began in the 1990s changed the region’s vector of development. The rapid progress of the resort and recreational industry, and enterprises of the tertiary sector influenced both intra-regional and inter-regional migration. The universities of the Krasnodar Krai are attractive to educational migrants from other regions of the country - from both the neighbouring Southern Russia regions and the north-eastern regions. At the same time, from the point of view of global competitiveness, the region has systemic problems in the development of human capital, innovation, and space. The authors focus on the educational trajectories of students, the reasons for their choice of Krasnodar as education destination, satisfaction with the quality of educational services, the degree and forms of social activities, as well as further life and professional plans. The authors identified three contradictions in the current state of the region’s higher education system, without the resolution of which it will be impossible to convert human capital into a real factor of regional development. These are the contradictions between the significantly growing population of the region and the reduction in the number of students, between the needs of the labour market of the “knowledge economy” and the structure of specialists’ training, and between the governmental trend for the development of rural areas and the lack of motivation among university graduates to work in rural municipalities. The article formulates several proposals for resolving these contradictions.

Статья посвящена анализу концептуальных оснований политики идентичности, главным субъектом которой в современных условиях выступает национальное государство. Помимо теоретических схем интерпретации понятий «этнос», «нация», «национальная идентичность» и «политика идентичности», в работе также рассмотрены практики реализации политики идентичности в России и Армении. Исследования идентичности в последние десятилетия приобрели особую значимость, однако сам феномен по-прежнему сложно поддается определению и анализу. Актуализация проблематики идентичности обусловлена тем, что данное явление во многом определяет особенности функционирования современных социальных систем и прежде всего государства. Вместе с тем опыт различных государств в вопросах разработки и реализации политики идентичности во многом специфичен. Это наглядно демонстрирует ситуация в Российской Федерации и Республике Армения. Обе страны столкнулись с серьезными внутренними и внешними вызовами, при этом в вопросе реализации политики идентичности обнаруживается ряд общих проблем. И для России, и для Армении актуальными и открытыми остаются вопросы об основаниях идентичности и критериях включения в национальное сообщество. Вместе с тем от понимания возможностей и применения эффективных технологий регулирования политики идентичности, от выявления актуальных приоритетов и векторов развития общества во многом зависит будущее и даже само существование обеих стран как национальных государств в условиях современного глобализирующегося мира. В теоретико-методологическом плане исследование опирается на базовые положения теории идентичности, концепции этничности, нации и национализма. Исследование базируется на междисциплинарном подходе, объединяющем теоретико-методологические принципы социологии, этнологии и политической науки. политика идентичности, национальная идентичность, нация, этнос, народ, Российская Федерация, Республика Армения