Reviews and reports. Рубрика в журнале - Arctic and North
Статья научная
The monograph “Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic” attempts to analyze the current transformations in the Arctic region against the backdrop of climate change and escalating global geopolitics. However, from the Russian perspective, the work is significantly limited by its Western perspective, in which Russia is presented more as a source of tension and an object of sanctions pressure than as an equal participant in Arctic cooperation and sustainable development. The book does not pay sufficient attention to Russian national interests, strategic priorities, and comprehensive approach to Arctic development. The authors’ disregard for Russia’s role in ensuring environmental security, developing the Northern Sea Route and supporting the indigenous peoples of the region is critically important. Instead, the focus is on confrontation and the collapse of the Arctic Council’s institutional model, overlooking Russia’s efforts to maintain and advance cooperation mechanisms at the bilateral and multilateral levels. The monograph inadequately addresses Russian concepts of sustainable Arctic development as well as the consequences of unilateral sanctions and political pressure, undermining overall regional stability and security. Thus, while “Unfrozen” is valuable for understanding the Western perceptions of Arctic changes, it clearly lacks a comprehensive and balanced view that reflects the specifics and interests of Russia as a key Arctic state.
Бесплатно
The First Scientific Expeditions to the Bering Strait and to the Russian Colonies in America
Статья научная
Based on the geographical atlases of the 16th century, the German scientist G. Leibniz proposed to Peter I a project aimed at discovering a strait between Asia and America, studying the Earth’s magnetic field, cartographic and other research in Russia. In December 1724, Peter I signed a decree on equipping the expedition, which was called the First Kamchatka Expedition (1725–1730). In 1732, the expedition of I. Fedorov and M.S. Gvozdev through the Bering Strait approached the northwestern coast of America in the area of Cape Gvozdev (now — Cape Prince of Wales). At the same time, members of the Admiralty Board N.F. Golovin and T. Sanders proposed organizing Russian round-the-world voyages and creating a Pacific Fleet to protect Russia's Far Eastern borders. In 1741, the Second Kamchatka Expedition of V.I. Bering and A.I. Chirikov explored the northwestern coast of America and the islands of the Aleutian ridge. In 1763, M.V. Lomonosov justified the possibility of passing the Northern Sea Route through the Pole to Kamchatka. In 1764–1769, by the order of Catherine II, K. Krenitsyn and M.D. Levashov sent a secret expedition to the Bering Strait, which initiated a systematic mapping of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. The expedition of I. Billings and G.A. Sarychev (1785–1796) resulted in the publication of maps of the Pacific Ocean. By the beginning of the 19th century, the question of the sea route to the Atlantic from the Bering Sea through the Arctic Ocean remained open. I.F. Kruzenshtern developed his own plan for organizing round-the-world voyages and received state support. Emperor Alexander I granted the request of the head of the Russian-American Company, N.P. Rezanov about sending goods to the Pacific colonies by sea and establishing interstate relations with Japan, which made it possible to equip the first Russian round-the-world expedition under the command of I.F. Kruzenshtern and Yu.F. Lisyanskiy (1803–1806).
Бесплатно
The Historical Study about Cultural Landscapes of the Kola North
Статья научная
The article represents a short review of the new book by prof. P.V. Fedorov «Cultural Landscapes of the Kola North: Structure and Historical Dynamics».
Бесплатно
Статья научная
The article characterizes the study of the Civil War in Russia at the present stage in connection with the centenary of this epoch. The author points out the most important research projects implemented in Russia and abroad. The article summarizes the research results and reviews the current state of historiography of the Civil War and intervention in the Russian North. The author presents an overview of the consideration of problems and events of this epoch in Northern Russia in the Russian encyclopedias about the Civil War. The article gives a detailed critical analysis of the key problems of the Civil War in the North of Russia and the life of this region, its population on the pages of 3-volumes encyclopedia “Russia in the Civil War”, issued in Moscow in 2021. In contrast to simplistic representations and distortions of facts, the author reveals the real processes that took place on the northern territories of Russia during the dramatic era of Civil War, reflects on the prospects of further research.
Бесплатно
The Origin of the Russkoust'intsy Ethnic Group and Exploration Work in the Indigirka River Delta
Статья научная
The origin of the group of Russian Arctic old-timers living in the lower reaches of the Indigirka River in the village of Russkoe Ustye is still a subject of discussions. Despite the official version, the version about their origin from the Novgorod boyars, who allegedly settled in those places already in the 16th century, is being actively promoted. Written sources deny rather than confirm the legend with a complete lack of information. The article substantiates an attempt to verify the legend by means of ethnoarchaeological complexes, for which purpose archaeological prospecting works were carried out in the Indigirka delta in order to find predecessors of the contemporary village Russkoe Ustye and to assess their relevance for research. As a result, it became clear that the Staroe Russkoe Ustye tract could become the main source of archaeological material. Dating can also be attempted on the basis of materials from burials located in the Gulyanka area.
Бесплатно
Статья научная
The research group of the Arctic Museum and Exhibition Center, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, in cooperation with the Marine Heritage Association and the media group of the Marine Technical College in St. Petersburg are implementing the Arctic Oral Memory project, supported by the Presidential Grants Fund. The project involves the creation of an open Internet resource https://arcticmemory.ru/ with video recordings of oral histories of famous Russian polar explorers. The article is devoted to the results and experience of the implementation of this project, which is at the intersection of journalism (popularization), cultural anthropology and history, providing the opportunity to see and hear first-hand information from those who personally participated in the study and development Arctic.
Бесплатно
The Russian and World Arctic — a Monographic Study of Demographers, Sociologists and Economists
Статья научная
At the beginning of 2022, the Political Encyclopedia Publishing House (ROSSPEN) published a collective monograph “Russian and World Arctic: Population, Economy, Settlement” / Fauzer V.V., Smirnov A.V., Lytkina T.S., Fauzer G.N.; ed. by prof. Fauzer, Moscow, Political Encyclopedia Publ., 2022, 215 p. ISBN 978-5-8243-2479-2. The reviewers were well-known scientists: S. V. Ryazantsev, Corresponding Member of the RAS, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Director of the Institute for Demographic Studies of the Federal Research Sociological Centre of RAS, and A. N. Pilyasov, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of Socio-Economic Geography of Foreign Countries, Faculty of Geography, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Бесплатно
Статья научная
Here we present a brief overview of events and presentations at the International Arctic Vegetation Archive and Classification Workshop, held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, on 30–31 March 2017. The purpose of the workshop was to collect and process data about the Arctic vegetation. The data supposed to be presented in a standard format for subsequent classification and analysis. Twenty-nine scientists from most of the Arctic states were among the participants of the workshop. They presented an overview of existing databases on vegetation, discussed the possibility of sharing and pooling of data as well as possible ways of classification for the pan-Arctic vegetation.
Бесплатно
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2022) and Its Arctic Agenda
Статья научная
The article summarizes the results of the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2022), which was held in St. Petersburg from June 15 to 18, 2022. As a participant of the forum, the author focuses on the analysis of Arctic issues, which were considered at the last event. They include current problems in the Arctic Council's activities, issues of the development of the Northern Sea Route, shipbuilding and ship repair in the Arctic, ensuring security in the region by the forces and means of the Russian EMERCOM, the state and prospects of building the international Arctic station Snezhinka, and problems of education and personnel training. Particular attention is paid to increasing the role of science, scientific and educational centers in making strategic decisions on the development of the economy, social and spiritual spheres of the Arctic territories. It is noted that, for the first time, heads of Arctic regions of the Russian Federation successfully presented investment projects in their regions at the Forum.
Бесплатно
Статья научная
The analytical review is devoted to the progress and results of the three-day business trip (March 17–19, 2021) of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician A.M. Sergeev, to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) as part of a large group of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences and its Siberian branch. During this period, he visited more than 20 scientific and educational objects in Yakutsk and Tiksi village, met with their leaders, got acquainted with the main directions of their activities. The article reveals and analyzes numerous meetings of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences with scientists, his speeches at conferences and round tables, where his key positions and assessments regarding the role of science in the development of Russia and Yakutia are outlined in the light of the requirements of the decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On measures to improve the efficiency of state scientific research and technical policy”. Special attention is paid to the results of meetings with the leadership of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Academy of Sciences of the republic, visits to the Federal Research Center “Yakutsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences" and its institutions, North-Eastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov, scientific and educational laboratory "Agrokub", the Polar Geocosmophysical Observatory, the station of rocket sounding of the atmosphere and the wind-diesel complex. The article contains innovative material on a comprehensive development plan for the Tiksi village. Speaking about the importance of a business visit to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the author notes that this trip took place in the Year of Science and Technology in Russia, on the eve of the Russian Federation's chairmanship in the Arctic Council, and thus emphasized the importance of the region in the Arctic state policy and gave a good impetus for further development of scientific organizations and science in Yakutia. According to the results of work in Yakutia, the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.M. Sergeev highly appreciated the scientific and technological potential of the region, noted the most promising areas of fundamental and applied research that can ensure breakthrough development of the region.
Бесплатно
Статья научная
In 2020, a book, edited by E.A. Borovichov and N.V. Vronsky, “Nature and the indigenous population of the Arctic under the influence of climate change and industrial development: the Murmansk Oblast” was published by the Graphite Publishing House. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of modern climate dynamics and human impact on biota, the environment and nature management in the Murmansk Oblast, one of the most industrially developed regions of the Russian Arctic, with particular attention to changes in the life of the indigenous people of the area - the Sami. The approaches to the development of a regional climate change adaptation strategy based on scenarios of the development of the Murmansk Oblast and considering the traditional knowledge of the indigenous population, as well as the socio-cultural development strategy of Lovozero, the compact residence area for the Kola Sami, are presented.
Бесплатно
The problems of the Arctic region in modern international journalism: examples and features
Статья научная
The article is devoted to the review of problems of the Arctic region presented in modern international journalism on the example of the travel essay by the international journalist S. Pashkevich “Letters from the Edge of the World. Traveling to Russian America” and the TV program “30 days in the Arctic with Ville Haapasalo”. These works are selected as examples of international journalists covering the problems of the Arctic region in different formats (print and tv) and the longterm perspective. As a result of the analysis, we can conclude on the general topic of chosen journalism works — the way of life of residents. The choice of problems is determined by the genre features of the texts presented: if Pashkevich's letters are more of a lyrical journalism work whose purpose is to show the life of “Russian” Alaskans with an emphasis on general Russian-American history; Ville Haapasalo's TV program combines entertainment and information components, and to a certain extent entertaining component (stories about hunting, fishing, participation of the facilitator in these classes) is balanced by the presentation of various problems from which residents of the Arctic region of Russia.
Бесплатно
The “Arctic Encyclopedia”: The Paulsen Publishing House has issued a fundamental work
Статья научная
Here we present a review of a two volume scientific work published in April 2017 by the Paulsen Publishing House — the “Arctic Encyclopedia”. The authors — 100 people from different fields of science — enabled the publisher to get a detailed coverage of geography, flora and fauna, climate, indigenous peoples of the Arctic, as well as international cooperation, social, economic and cultural development of the Arctic areas. This work is a fundamental one and deserves close attention from every person interested in the Arctic issues.
Бесплатно
Статья научная
The article presents the summary of the Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences. The authors focus on the key issues of tourism development in the Arctic and Subarctic regions, such as sustainability, involvement of local people and climate change. The conference reveals how research in the field of tourism is based on multidisciplinary approaches combining economics, sociology, history and meteorology. Another part of this review is dedicated to the definitions and nature of ecotourism, its development and history in the national parks of Finland and the Republic of Karelia. National parks Koli and Paanajärvi were taken as case studies of ecotourism development.
Бесплатно
Traces of the Russian Language in the Arctic
Статья научная
This article is devoted to the Arctic as the territory of an ancient developed civilization existence; the territory that gave the world the Russian language, which later spread throughout the world; the territory where archaeological and anthropological artifacts have been preserved, allowing us to speak about the primacy of the Aryan (Russian) people, and, consequently, about the primacy of the ancient language of the Aryans. The authors of the article give the examples of excavations, the names of toponyms, hydronyms, ornaments on clothes, vessels, household items, proving the life of people in the Russian North many thousands of years before the Sumerian, Persian, Indian, Egyptian, Chinese civilizations; represent the opinion of scientists from around the world; try to find “traces” of the Russian language in other languages of the world. The authors of the article made a comparative analysis and demonstrated the interconnection of several languages on the example of some words, presented information on the Russian alphabet and showed its connection to the English signs of transcription. The hypothesis about the primacy of the Russian language is based on the statements of well-known domestic and foreign linguists, dialectologists, ethnographers, historians, slavists, sanskritologists, paleontologists, paleoclimatologists, soil scientists, and other researchers and requires further study.
Бесплатно
Transformation of the Spatial Organization of Retail Trade in Arkhangelsk
Статья научная
The article compares the spatial organization of retail food trade in Arkhangelsk in 1988 and 2022 in order to identify the changes that have occurred in the post-Soviet period. Its transformation was facilitated by the closure of industrial enterprises, most of them were located in settlements in outskirts, a change in the solvency of residents, and a reduction in the number of potential buyers. The internal heterogenety of the conditions for the development of trade in different parts of the city, differences in the provision of retail outlets for residents, the prevailing trade formats that are typical for central and outlying areas are revealed. Compliance of the principle of equidistance of shops from residential buildings was checked. We also conducted a content analysis of customer reviews about various formats of retail outlets. We determined that in 2022 the number of stores in Arkhangelsk increased by 3 times compared to 1988. However, their distribution throughout the city is extremely heterogeneous. There is a clear competitive advantage of the central districts of the city (Oktyabrskiy, Lomonosovskiy), where the number of stores has increased by 4–5 times, over the outskirts, where the growth is less than 2 times (Maimaksanskiy, Isakogorskiy, Tsiglomenskiy districts). The most common form of trade organization in Arkhangelsk is a discount store, which is associated with the low solvency of the city population. Most of them belong to federal retailers. Their expansion in Arkhangelsk mainly affected the central districts and bedroom suburbs close to them. The least number of stores of federal and local retail chains has been opened in the outlying districts; there aren't any shops on the islands without bridges (Brevennik, Linskiy Priluk, Khabarka, Kegostrov). For outlying areas, the most common stores are those that do not belong to chain retailers, these are small pavilions and kiosks. Most customers’ reviews of such stores are negative and the overall rating of their work is lower than that of chain stores.
Бесплатно
Verkhoyansk secondary school - the oldest school in the far north: the beginning of a long journey
Статья научная
In this article, the author shares the results of his research on the history of the city of Verkhoyansk - one of the oldest cities in the Far North of Russia. The city was founded by the Russian Cossack Postnik Ivanov in 1638. The school, which was opened two and a half centuries later, has its own history, as interesting as the city itself: it reflects almost all the events that took place in such a distant time in the Arctic coast of the Arctic, in Yakutia, in Russia. Despite the fact that the city is one of the smallest for its population, however, the founders of the school, its teachers and alumni were involved in many historical events, facts that made the fame and pride of place, has contributed to the development of their region, their country. Today we will get acquainted with the earliest period - the time of the Foundation and creation of the school as one of the main points of enlightenment of the vast territory lying to the North of the Verkhoyansk ridges. As it turned out, despite the long-standing interest in this place on the part of domestic and foreign historians, sociologists, and ethnographers, this period still remains a blank spot in history: we still do not know many participants in these events, there is no reliable data about some facts. The author has to be content with fragmentary information, give his own interpretation and explanation.
Бесплатно
Who cultivated Russian North? Objection to the Norwegian author
Статья научная
Based on the critical analysis of the book Ingve Astrup ‛Norwegian timber merchants – are the pioneers of the Russian Belomorye in the years of 1880−1930’. In the article analyzes the modern trends of Norwegian historiography about the coverage of the issues of the Russian-Norwegian relations.
Бесплатно
Yurak-Samoyeds: Problems of Ethnic Identification
Статья научная
The article is devoted to the poorly studied problem of the origin of the name Yuraki, which the Russians, as well as the Enets and Nganasans, called the group of the Samoed-speaking population that wandered along the northern outskirts of Western Siberia in the 17th — first half of the 20th century. On the basis of published and unpublished archival materials, information from the works of Russian and foreign scientists, as well as dictionaries of the peoples of the North, we attempted to identify the ethnic composition of the Yuraks, the boundaries of their settlement, determine the chronological framework for the emergence and existence of this name and clarify its origin. The research has resulted in a number of reasonable conclusions and assumptions. The name Yuraki appeared in the 17th century, when the tax policy of the tsarist administration in the north of Western Siberia provoked active resistance of certain groups of the nomadic Samoyed population. Russians called the Yoraks / Yuraks nomadic in the deep tundra, who did not pay a permanent tax, tundra and forest Nenets and Enets, as well as a mixed Nenets-Enets group. This name comes from the Nenets word Yor meaning "depth". By the 19th century, the Nenets of the Yenisei province began to be called Yuraks, regardless of the tax system. In the Soviet household documents of the Dolgan-Nenets National District, this name appeared until the middle of the 20th century.
Бесплатно
