Northern and arctic societies. Рубрика в журнале - Arctic and North
Scientific article
The article deals with the peculiarities of the regional context of socialization of the youth of the subjects of the AZRF in the field of implementation of vocational and educational attitudes. The paper presents a summary analysis of statistical indicators of migration gain (loss) in the AZRF, including the structure by age groups, as well as data on the dynamics of the number of students studying at different types of educational institutions from 2005 to 2020. Statistical indicators of migration gain (loss) have revealed a trend of a sharp decrease in the outflow of population in the Russian Arctic. The obvious reasons for this situation were the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly increased the changes in the logic of the reproduction of the social structures, in particular, there was a migration turn towards provincial subjects, as the most favorable for life, in contrast to megacities and large cities. It actualizes and problematizes the possibilities of the environment of remote regions for the optimal socialization of young people. The authors of the article focus on environmental factors that contribute to the formation and implementation of professional and educational attitudes of young people in the region. The purpose of the article is to study the professional and educational attitudes of young people in the conditions of the migration outflow of the population. The object of the research is young people studying in the Murmansk Oblast. The choice of a specific subject of the Russian Arctic (Murmansk Oblast) is due to a number of reasons: intensive migration loss of population; significant reduction in the number of educational institutions; reduction in the number of students in comparison with other subjects of the Russian Arctic. The empirical basis of the article was formed by the results of a sociological study conducted in April–May 2021 in the Murmansk Oblast using the online survey method among graduates of educational institutions of secondary general (523 people), secondary vocational (519 people) and higher education (bachelor level) (283 people).
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Vocational and Educational Strategies of SVE Students (Based on a Survey in the Murmansk Oblast)
Scientific article
The article analyzes the educational and professional strategies of graduates of secondary vocational education (SVE) of the Murmansk Oblast, formed on the basis of prevailing values in the conditions of socialization in a particular region. The paper focuses on the existing contradictions in understanding the reasons for the growth in the number of applicants to secondary vocational institutions. On the basis of statistical data from various sources, an analysis of the system of vocational training at the secondary professional level is presented and the features of the human resources potential and needs of the region are indicated. The authors of the article focus on environmental factors that contribute to the formation of values and the implementation of vocational and educational strategies for the youth of the region. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the social constructivism theory of P. Berger and T. Lukman, as well as the value theory of R. Inglehart. The object of the study is graduate students in the secondary vocational education system of the Murmansk Oblast. The choice of a specific subject of the Russian Arctic (Murmansk Oblast) is due to a number of reasons: intensive migration loss of the population; significant reduction in the number of educational institutions; reduction in the number of students. The empirical base of the article was formed by the results of a sociological study conducted in April-May 2021 in the Murmansk Oblast by online questionnaire survey among graduates of educational institutions of secondary vocational level — 519 people. The study of professional and educational strategies of graduates of secondary vocational education, an analysis of educational plans, attitudes towards employment, including the direction of training, labor value orientations as well as migration attitudes of students were additionally considered.
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Water Transport in Arctic Tourism Logistics
Scientific article
The success of Arctic tourism development is associated with solving the problem of delivering tourists to the places of their interest. “The Concept for the Development of Cruise Tourism”, approved by the government of the Russian Federation in 2022, suggests that overcoming the transport problem in the Arctic is possible thanks to water transport. It can be used in the logistics of Arctic tourism as a way of transporting tourists on routes and for organizing sea and river cruises. We have examined the current use of water transport in the organization of tourist routes in the Russian sector of the Arctic based on information from river and sea cruise operators. In addition, we have identified regions where water transport is used to organise passenger transport. In the European part of the Russian Arctic, water transport is most actively used for river cruises. Arctic river cruises provide tourists with the opportunity to travel in areas where there is no special infrastructure. In this case, river routes usually start southwards in the most populated regions. In the Asian part of the Russian Arctic the number of cruises is smaller, they are carried out only on three rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena. But there are also regular passages that can be used by tourists travelling to the Arctic. Using content analysis of tourists’ reviews of Arctic river cruises we have identified the main drawbacks of their organization. SWOT analysis of the use of water transport in the logistics of Arctic tourism showed what hinders its development. The main problems of water transport use in the Arctic include the ageing of vessels, passenger safety, short navigation period and shallowing of waterways. The most promising ways for the use of water transport in Arctic tourism are inland waterways in the European part of the Russian Arctic, the White Sea and the Barents Sea.
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Work Communities: Sense of Place in the Context of a Single-Industry Arctic City
Scientific article
The aim of this article is to provide a substantive definition of the sense of place among the residents of Norilsk, who constitute an urban working community. The term “working community” is used to refer to the residents of an industrial single-industry town, united by a shared mental conceptualization of those with whom they live, work, communicate, share common values, for whom professional and corporate identities are dominant and determine the nature and directions of the urban community’s sustainability. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the principles of social constructivism, which views social identities as multiple discursive constructs of the modern globalized world, in which the loss of place and ties to communities are consequences of the ongoing changes. As the main concept for identifying the characteristics of the local, we chose “sense of place”, which arises as a result of interaction with the environment and is meaningfully reflected in its interpretation by residents. The methodological basis of the work was the method of qualitative text analysis, specifically narrative analysis. At the empirical level, a detailed description of subjective perception of the city of Norilsk was carried out on the basis of a) text messages, posts and comments to them for 20212024 (the total number of posts was 4,511, of which 110 posts with the number of comments exceeding 50 were selected); b) individual in-depth interviews (18 people, employees of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant named after B. V. Kolesnikov; the Talnakh Concentrator; the Komsomolskiy Mine). The analysis allowed us to identify the main dominants of the “sense of place” among Norilsk residents as an urban working community: ambivalent emotional attachment to the city; perception of Norilsk as a “place not for everyone” and as a city of an industrial corporation with a special professional profile — heavy labor professions.
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Wrangel island as actant in the historical geography of the Russian Arctic through a Mi’kmaw lens
Scientific article
Wrangel Island is the largest island in the Russian Eastern Arctic and is now a protected place with international recognition. One of only five UNESCO world heritage sites in the Arctic, Wrangel Island is uniquely varied in its flora and fauna for an Arctic island. In this reflection piece, I use an Indigenous Mi’Kmaw cosmological approach to envision the much-storied Wrangel Island as a being and an actant in its long history, especially regarding human beings and anthropocenic activity. My approach asserts that, like plants, rocks, mountains, water, and landscapes, Wrangel Island has a unique and remarkable identity, personality, and spirit. For centuries, Wrangel Island has rebuffed human presence and it has been little affected by human activity. Today only scientists visit; no human collectivity has ever gained more than a slippery grip on the island. The tragedy is that, despite the island’s inclinations, the warming of the Russian Arctic may change this.
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Scientific article
The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of open data from international sociological Internet resources (Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Connecting Viewpoints, Hofstede Insights Ltd) in relation to the Arctic countries. As it is known, the models of F. Trompenaars, G. Hofstede are focused on the study of differences in business cultures and the analysis of cross-cultural communication, i.e. the study of the national characteristics of the organizational culture of the countries, their “cultural compass”. The relevance of the proposed topic is dictated by a number of factors: firstly, the Arctic region is an area of geopolitical competition between Russia and predominantly Western countries; secondly, the most important element in the struggle for geopolitical supremacy is “organizational culture” as the most important element of “soft power”; thirdly, it is important to understand how Western sociological models see the relationship (similarities and differences) of cultural factors on the example of key stakeholders in the Arctic region; fourthly, it is important to determine the place that Russia occupies in these ratings; fifthly, Western attempts to constrain Russia in the region determine the need to include in the sample not only data on the members of the Arctic Council (represented, with the exception of Russia, only by NATO countries), but also on Russia’s allies within the BRICS, in particular data on the organizational culture of China, which has long-term interests in the Arctic region. Within this logic, a number of questions arise: what is the “vision” created by Western Internet resources about the organizational culture of different countries, how the data obtained correlate with each other in the light of the current geopolitical situation. Comparing the results of different models and the statistical results obtained on their basis can lead to non-trivial conclusions, in particular about the scientific component of such ratings and their impact on the business image of countries in the world as a whole, and the Arctic region in particular.
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Scientific article
The article considers “digital twins” of the population as a tool for socio-demographic research and territorial management. The experience of creating digital twins of the population and interactive websites devoted to demographic issues is systematized. A methodology for creating a digital twin of the Arctic population is proposed, based on three methodological principles: consideration of the hierarchy of territories, spatial representation of data, and combining demographic statistics with new digital data sources. The author has developed the Digital twin of the Arctic population — an interactive website (dashboard) containing detailed data on the Arctic population, including municipal and settlement levels. It includes demographic statistics, census results and data from digital platforms. The Digital twin of the Arctic population covers such issues as the size, dynamics and composition of the population, resettlement, natural and migration movement, labor and employment, transport movements, science and education, and the impact of the pandemic on demographic processes. Tools of ranking, multivariate analysis, clustering and forecasting of indicator values are implemented for researchers. From the viewpoint of state and municipal management, the main interest is the demographic profiles of regions and territories, reflecting up-to-date information about the demographic situation. Using the Digital twin of the Arctic population, the author draws conclusions about the spatial patterns of the demographic development of the Russian Arctic.
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Scientific article
The article is devoted to the socio-economic adaptation of single-industry towns’ population on the example of single-industry settlements in the North-West of Russia. The work’s theoretical and methodological framework is the approaches of scientists who study the grassroots practices of survival of small towns and villages (seasonal work, commuting, a distributed way of life, the informal economy). The empirical base of the study are statistical data collected from the databases of EMISS, SPARK Interfax, the Foundation for the Development of Single-Industry Towns, websites of administrations of single-industry settlements in the Northwestern Federal District, as well as data from field studies collected by the method of semi-formalized interviews with representatives of administrations and deputies of city and regional councils, with ordinary residents of single-industry towns in Republic of Karelia, Leningrad and Vologda oblasts. The study’s preliminary results are presented: first, an analysis of the contradictions in the management approach. Many single-industry settlements in the Northwestern Federal District do not meet the criteria according to which they are included in the official list of single-industry towns. Also, government support measures to rescue “dying” monotowns are ineffective. Secondly, empirical research results show that residents of single-industry towns have developed strategies for adapting to new socio-economic conditions of life, which are not associated with employment in a city-forming enterprise. These strategies include: 1) rotational work or seasonal work; 2) pendulum migration within spontaneous local agglomerations; 3) “distributed lifestyle”; 4) involvement in various spheres of the informal economy. Thus, single-industry towns “do not die” but survive primarily due to the population’s grassroots economic practices.
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