Alexander Michailovich Nikulin

‘Quiet Food Sovereignty’ as Food Sovereignty without a Movement? Insights from Post-socialist Russia

Abstract What does food sovereignty look like in settings where rural social movements are weak or non-existent, such as in countries with post-socialist, semi-authoritarian regimes? Focusing on Russia, we present a divergent form of food sovereignty. Building on the concept of ‘quiet sustainability’, we present a dispersed, muted, but clearly bottom-up variant we term ‘quiet food sovereignty’. In the latter, the role of the very productive smallholdings is downplayed by the state and partly by the smallholders themselves. Those smallholdings are not seen as an alternative to industrial agriculture, but subsidiary to it (although superior in terms of sociality and healthy, environmentally friendly produce). As such, ‘quiet food sovereignty’ deviates from the overt struggle frequently associated with food sovereignty. We discuss the prospects of ‘quiet food sovereignty’ to develop into a full food sovereignty movement, and stress the importance of studying implicit everyday forms of food sovereignty.

The Russian Variant of Food Security

Russia’s political leaders have a different understanding of food security than traditional usage. The traditional usage of the term food security refers to access, availability, and nutritional aspects of food. According to the conventional application of food security, the vast majority of the Russian population is not food insecure by traditional measures. The Russian variant of food security connects food trade to national security. The Russian political leadership argues that Russia is food insecure based on food imports. Survey data are used to assess support for the government’s food security policy, and to analyze the impact of the self-imposed food embargo on Russian consumers.

Russia’s tilt to Asia and implications for agriculture in the Far East

As part of Russia’s strategic tilt to Asia, Russian policymakers hope to increase food exports to the Asia-Pacific region. This article analyzes prospects for increasing Russia’s penetration of Asian food markets by surveying initiatives to increase local food production in the Far East and efforts to attract investment into agriculture. Obstacles to increased market penetration are examined, including contradictory policy goals.

Pitirim Sorokin’s contribution to rural sociology: Russian, European and American milestones of a scientific career

ABSTRACT The whole of Pitirim Sorokin’s fascinating and difficult scientific life led to his fundamental works on urban–rural relationships being expressed in the terms ‘rural–urban continuum’ and ‘rurbanism’. However, only a few special studies have been devoted to different aspects of his biography and scientific interests. The legacy of Sorokin as a rural sociologist has not yet become a subject of special studies in Russian social science. This contribution considers the key stages of Sorokin’s scientific career as contributing to the development and institutionalization of rural sociology as a discipline closely connected with urban sociology.

The importance of strong regional leadership in Russia: the Belgorod Miracle in agriculture

Abstract Belgorod oblast is a highly successful region in Russia. The economic successes in Belgorod stem from the dynamic leadership is provided by Yevgeny Savchenko for the past 24 years. Savchenko supports agroholdings and industrial agriculture, while also adopting policies that foster the growth of small-forms of farming and organic farming. Savchenko’s agrarian policies have led to the so-called Belgorod Miracle. The Belgorod experience shows that despite a decline in gubernatorial power vis-à-vis the federal center, governors have vast powers within their regions. Personality and leadership characteristics are important variables that impact the performance of a region.

A. V. Chayanov’s International Regionalistics (On the 80th Anniversary of the Death of the Scientist)

In addition to comprehensive studies of Russian agriculture, outstanding Russian agrarian-economist Alexander Chayanov (1888–1937) has left a vast scientific legacy relating to the study of agrarian economies of the most diverse regions of the world. It was Chayanov’s free orientation in the issues of the international agrarian economy, science and politics that enabled him to organically realize in his studies both Russian and foreign agrarian experience giving a universal character to his theoretical concepts of peasant economy, rural cooperatives, social agronomy and economic policy. So far, neither in the Russian, nor in the foreign scientific literature have there been any special works devoted to Chayanov’s international agrarian studies. This article seeks to fill this gap through reconstructing the main landmarks and themes of Chayanov’s international agrarian research projects and updating them in keeping with the modern understanding of Russian and international agrarian problems. The article reviews such issues as: the evolution of A. V. Chayanov’s agrarian and economic views on the agriculture of Europe at the beginning of the 20th century including rethinking of the importance of autarky and naturalization of agriculture in Russia and the world under the conditions of world and civil wars; international agrarian studies by Chayanov and his institute in the 1920s. The last part of the article analyzes Chayanov’s dramatic attempts made in the course of the Soviet collectivization to rationalize projects of creating super-large agrarian enterprises — state farms orientated on the experience of the American 100% mechanization. In conclusion, the study addresses the reasons for Chayanov’s international agricultural heritage being in demand in the 21st century.

Gender Inequality in Russia's Rural Formal Economy

Gender inequality in Russias rural formal economy is examined using quantitative and qualitative data. Rural women continue to be underrepresented in farm managerial positions, and gendered income differences remain the norm. Rural women are underrepresented because they continue to have responsibility for most of the housework and child care. The traditional division of labor inside the household continues to dominate, thereby affecting womens career trajectories and earning potential. Value change about gendered roles in the formal economy has been minimal.

Северные Территории Российской Федерации, Стран Европы и Америки: Компаративистский Анализ Перспектив Сельского Развития (Northern Territories of the Russian Federation, European Countries and America: Comparative Analysis of the Prospects for Agricultural Development)

В работе обобщен российский и зарубежный (Скандинавские страны, Финляндия, США, Канада) опыт сельского развития на региональных и локальных уровнях, рассмотрены государственные, бизнес- и негосударственные-некоммерческие программы и проекты сельского развития, позволяющие сформулировать некоторые прогнозы и предложения для сельского развития северных территорий Российской Федерации с учетом зарубежного опыта. This paper sums up Russian and international (Scandinavian countries, Finland, USA and Canada) experience regarding agricultural development at regional and local levels. Authors analyzed state, business and non-governmental and non-commercial projects and programs of agricultural development which allow to formulate certain projections and proposals for the agricultural development of northern territories of the Russian Federation taking into consideration international experience in this sphere.

Локальные и Региональные Модели Развития Сельской Местности (Local and Regional Models Rural Development)

Данная работа подготовлена на основе материалов научно-исследовательской работы, выполненной в соответствии с Государственным заданием РАНХиГС при Президенте Российской Федерации на 2012 год.This paper was prepared on the basis of the research work carried out in accordance with the State job RANHiGS the President of the Russian Federation in 2012.