Anh The Phung, Nghia Minh Bui, Chung Quang Le, Quyet Thi Nguyen. From fields to cities: Social-economic and ideological transformations in Vietnam’s peasant communities // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №2. P. 135-154.

EDN: PJPTSK

Annotation

Vietnam’s rapid rural urbanization has determined complex social-economic, cultural and ideological changes in peasant communities. The article considers these transformations through the economic restructuring of rural labor and land use, cultural adaptation of traditional practices, and evolving ideological representations of the Vietnamese peasantry. The article is based on secondary sources (ethnographic studies, policy documents, and statistical data) and a comparative thematic approach combining rural sociology and critical discourse analysis. The findings reveal that while urbanization contributes to economic diversification and social mobility, it also creates persistent challenges such as land grabbing, growing inequality, and cultural erosion. Contrary to linear modernization theories, the study identifies hybrid rural-urban realities with smallholder farming, kinship networks, and symbolic land relations. Ideologically, rural population combines traditional communal ethics and individualist, marketoriented logics. The comparative analysis of Russian, Chinese and other transitional economies proves the universality of such dilemmas, particularly the tension between modernization and rural continuity. The study concludes with policy recommendations for inclusive and culturally sensitive rural development, emphasizing the need to integrate formal reforms with grassroots agency and local knowledge, which contributes to ongoing debates in rural sociology and peasant studies with relevance for both Vietnamese policymakers and the global agrarian thought.

Keywords

Cultural adaptation, hybrid rurality, ideological change, land grabbing, peasantry, rural urbanization, Vietnam.  

About the authors

Anh The Phung — PhD (History), Deputy Head, Faculty of Political Science and Law, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering, Vo Van Ngan St., 01, Thu Duc Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71300, Vietnam.
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Nghia Minh Bui — Lecturer, Institute of International Political Economy, University of Finance–Marketing, Nguyen Kiem St., 778, Duc Nhuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71300, Vietnam.
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Chung Quang Le — Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science and Law, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering, Vo Van Ngan St., 01, Thu Duc Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71300, Vietnam.
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Quyet Thi Nguyen — PhD (Philosophy), Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Law, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Engineering, Vo Van Ngan St., 01, Thu Duc Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71300, Vietnam.
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Suthar S. K., Singh Sh. “New” rural-agrarian movements in India: Continuities and shifts // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №2. P. 119-134.

EDN: GTERCR

Annotation

Political mobilization of farmers in India has always interested and puzzled scholars studying agrarian change. The major political phenomenon in India’s agrarian history were farmers movements in the 1980s, which showed the strength of organization and mobilization of such leaders as Mahindra Singh Tikait and Sharad Joshi. This phenomenon gradually faded away by the 1990s. However, in recent decades India once again witnessed farmers protests with three major demands: waiving off agricultural loans; more rationalized Minimum Support Price covering more crops and input costs; implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report’s recommendations1. The national magazine’s cover called these protests “farmers revolt”. In the interview, Yogendra Yadav, a political activist associated with Swaraj Abhiyan, called them a historical moment and a move towards “peasant rebellion”. The article considers the nature of farmers mobilization from 2014 to 2020, focusing on the initial phase of this movement and emphasizing that farmers protests should not be seen as sporadic, scattered and short-term unrest, as they appear prima facie. Instead, these protests reflect a major shift in the nature of social movements in India in general and agrarian movements in particular, being different from the 1980s farmers movements. Recent protests show that the new rural youth want to reimagine Indian rural society, develops new methods of protests and negotiations and new class distinctions, considering diverse ideological positions on the rural-agrarian question. This new rural social class is against the right-wing populism and neo-populism of the 1980s farmers movements, but it is also against the Indian left-wing idea of modernity and the definition of rural India in terms of class politics. The authors argue that recent protests should be characterized as rural-agrarian rather than farmers, since they suggest the rural-agrarian dominance in the Indian political economy and define the new rural and post-green revolution as agrarian. Given the growing sense of losing identity under urbanization and corporatization, the new rural-agrarian class faces a serious existential threat that leads to protests and their culmination in the form of movement. The authors make some conclusions about this movement, highlighting its recent trends. The article consists of four sections: foundations of this movement evolution; concept of rural-agrarian movements; features of new farmers unrest, different from movements in the 1970s and 1980s; critical analysis in the context of existing theories.

Keywords

Political mobilization of farmers, India, new rural-agrarian movement, rural youth, farmers’ protests, political economy, new rural social class.  

About the authors

Sudhir Kumar Suthar, PhD (Political Science), Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, India.
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Shailza Singh, PhD (Political Science), Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Bharati College, University of Delhi. C-4, Dada Satram Mamtani Marg, Janakpuri, New Delhi, 110058, India.
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Markov A.V. Maika Lunevskaya: In search of new rural poetry // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 187-202.

EDN: OREOXO

Annotation

Maika Lunevskaya is a contemporary Russian poet, artist and musician, whose works connect peasant and post-peasant poetic traditions. She was born in Tambov but spent most of her life in the village of Pervaya Berezovka. Her works embody the “new rurality” — a conscious choice of rural life as a form of aesthetic and existential resistance to urbanization. Her poetry combines folklore motifs, ecological ref lection and digital scenography, creating a unique artistic world at the intersection of peasant tradition and postmodern sensibility. By considering her book Not Enough Memory (2024) in the context of depeasantization theories (Shanin, Vinogradsky and Vinogradskaya) and ecocriticism (Morton), the author shows how Lunevskaya reinterprets the legacy of peasant poetry (Klyuev, Yesenin, Rubtsov). Her poetry is not a return to pastoral idyll but an exploration of rural life as a space of labor, loss and creative survival in the anthropocene. Her poetry, graphics and music imply a dialogue between tradition and the present time. The book Not Enough Memory shows how peasant motifs (nature, cyclical time, folk imagery) are intertwined with ideas of ecological crisis, rural decay and digitalization. Lunevskaya avoids romanticizing rural life, instead presenting it as a space of existential reflection. A distinctive feature of her work is its multimedia nature: poems are accompanied by marker drawings, music (self-composed songs) and visual content on social media — rural life is presented as a performance, which the author describes as a fairground poetics — a fusion of traditional and contemporary art forms. Lunevskaya reinterprets the legacy of peasant poets, freeing it from naivety and exoticization. Her texts are “anti-pastoral”, since nature does not console but silently watches the decline. An ecocritical reading reveals ideas of anthropogenic impact, “nature-as-ruin”, and a non-anthropocentric worldview. Thus, Lunevskaya’s works form a new canon of post-peasant poetry relevant for the era of ecological and cultural transformations.

Keywords

Maika Lunevskaya, post-peasant poetry, contemporary Russian literature, ecocriticism, folklore motifs, anti-pastoral, rural life, multimedia art, existential lyricism, visual poetry, tradition and the present time, fairground poetics.  

About the author

Alexander V. Markov, DSc (Philology), Professor of the Department of Cinema and Contemporary Art, Russian State University for the Humanities. Miusskaya Sq., 6, Moscow, 125047, Russia.
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Koldobskaya N.A. Regional aspects of embroidery as Russia’s intangible cultural heritage // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 161-186.

EDN: ICUUTR 

Annotation

The article considers embroidery as the Russian intangible cultural heritage, focusing on its regional features: each culture gives embroidery its unique characteristics, reflecting the historical, social and cultural features of the region. Under globalization and rapid technological development, the task of preserving and popularizing traditional embroidery becomes especially relevant. The article aims at identifying geographical patterns and regional features of the Russian traditional embroidery. To achieve this goal, the author conducted a search for embroidery in the registers of intangible cultural heritage and folk crafts to create a database of regional features of Russian embroidery, supplemented by the methods of participant observation and field ethnographic study. The article presents the historical transformation of embroidery traditions as intangible cultural heritage and considers the activities of folk-art enterprises. The author identifies the role of geographical factors in the development of regional embroidery traditions, presents a typology of Russian regions based on such traditions, shows their differences between the city and the countryside. The article emphasizes the importance of preserving and transmitting knowledge about embroidery as a key aspect of the cultural identity of the peoples of Russia. Embroidery is considered not only as a decoration for clothing and household items, but also as a bearer of deep symbolism reflecting the worldview and spiritual values of the people.

Keywords

Embroidery traditions, intangible cultural heritage, folk crafts, regions of Russia, historical analysis, geographical factors, typology.  

About the author

Natalia A. Koldobskaya, PhD (Geography), Associate Professor, Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University. GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia. 
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Petukhova I.S., Parfenova O.A., Galkin K.A. Health of the elderly in the Russian village // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 137-160.

EDN: HCRFEU

Annotation

The article considers the perception of health and health-preserving behavior by the elderly rural residents. Today Russian villages are viewed as crisis-prone spaces characterized by poor infrastructure and limited access to medical care. In 2024, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with the elderly (60+) (N=42) and rural care organizers (N=23) and prepared detailed descriptions with photographs of nine villages in the Leningrad Region, Novgorod Region, and the Republic of Karelia. The elderly define their health as spatial functionality — the ability to maintain one’s home, one’s household, and oneself. As mobility decreases, the space of functionality narrows — from the village to the household, and at the last stage to one’s home and body. Despite the declining functionality, there remains a need for autonomy, and a system of external support becomes increasingly important — assistance from relatives, neighbors, medical and social workers is vital in the countryside with its crisis conditions and a required wide range of necessary assistance. The rural medical worker can play a key role as a medical care organizer provided necessary infrastructure (for example, a first aid station and a special medical vehicle with a driver). However, the presence of infrastructure does not guarantee expanded access to medical care or its improved quality, as it may be difficult to find medical personnel willing to work in the village. Thus, the health-preserving behavior of the rural elderly is a crisis adaptation tactic in which the close social circle and local community play a significant role.

Keywords

Aging in rural areas, health of the elderly, medicine in the village, accessibility of medicine for the elderly, rural infrastructure, state healthcare policy.  

About the authors

Irina S. Petukhova, PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences — Branch of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 190005, Saint Petersburg, 7th Krasnoarmeiskaia st., 25/14, Associate Professor, Petrozavodsk State University. 185910, Petrozavodsk, Prosp. Lenina, 33. 
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Oksana A. Parfenova, PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences — Branch of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 190005, Saint Petersburg, 7th Krasnoarmeiskaia St., 25/14.
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Konstantin A. Galkin, PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences — Branch of the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 190005, Saint Petersburg, 7th Krasnoarmeiskaia St., 25/14.
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Starodubrovskaya I.V. Post-Soviet social transformation of the North- Caucasian rural communities (on the example of Dagestan) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 113-136.

EDN: GWEAFK

Annotation

The article considers social transformations in Dagestani rural communities based on the results of the long fieldwork in 18 villages of different size, location and ethnic composition and on the interpretation of the traditional society model developed within early modernization theories. Thus, Dagestani rural communities go through multidirectional social transformations, but emancipation is the dominant trend. Generational and gender hierarchies weaken, kin and community impose less restrictions for individual choices, the closeness of communities is gradually overcome. All social regulations (adat, Saria, secular legislation) function less efficiently, and symptoms of anomie are evident even in rural areas, which determines the spread of administrative and violent mechanisms for conflict resolution. Islam in general and its contemporary globalized forms in particular play controversial role in social transformations by both preserving traditions and stimulating changes. In Dagestan, Islam became the language of generational emancipation but led to the rejection of many soviet modernization achievements in gender relations. Religious confrontation in rural communities, provoked by the spread of fundamentalist Islam, led to acute generational conflicts, destruction of family and community ties, and legitimation of violence, which is still observed in Dagestan.

Keywords

Rural community, social transformation, traditional society, modernization, multiple modernities, generational hierarchy, gender hierarchy, Islam, Dagestan.  

About the author

Irina V. Starodubrovskaya, PhD (Economics), Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Narxoz University. Zhandosov St., 55, Almaty, 050035, Kazakhstan.
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Baturina O. S. The relationship of economic and spiritual-axiological aspects in the life of the Russian village (an exploratory project in a regional ‘case’) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 246-259.

EDN: VSYEDO

Annotation

The article presents the results of an exploratory sociological study aimed at identifying the relationship between economic determinants and axiological-spiritual orientations of the rural population (on the example of a specific regional case). In the f irst part of the article, the author explains the categorical apparatus, conceptual foundations and sampling criteria for the empirical study, in the second part briefly summarizes its findings, showing that the financial well-being of the local community has a direct impact on social activity and communicative richness of rural life, level of societal trust, and motivation to participate in public initiatives. Tense confrontation between economic rationality (pragmatic considerations) and moral-ethical guidelines for collective life proves to be a determining factor in the preservation or destruction/loss of local value systems and cultural-historical heritage, and, consequently, in the perception of traditional foundations (on the scale from ‘sacred’ to ‘utilitarian’) and in value conflicts. On the one hand, the study confirms well-known principles of local community sustainability, such as favorable economic conditions as a factor in retaining young workers and effectively reproducing social and human capital in rural areas. On the other hand, the author identifies significant contradictions between (a) the values   of environmental responsibility and traditional collectivism declared by rural representatives and (b) the actual economic situation characterized by a lack of material, financial and resource opportunities to realize the declared life priorities. This leads to the degradation of social capital, erosion of local identity, strengthening paternalistic orientation, and decreasing confidence in the ability to influence the situation, which weakens the potential of rural self-government institutions. Thus, rural respondents consider the improvement of economic living conditions not only as a necessary means of achieving material well-being but also as a crucial tool for restoring social and cultural potential of the local community.

Keywords

Russian village, economic development, social well-being, traditional way of life, spiritual-moral values, case study, social/cultural/human capital.  

About the author

Oksana S. Baturina, PhD (Psychology), Head of the Scientific Department, Birsk Branch of the Ufa University of Science and Technology; Head of the small innovative enterprise “Academy of Personal and Corporate Development”. Internatsionalnaya St., 10, Birsk, Republic of Bashkortostan, 452451, Russia.
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Ishmukhametov R. R. The role of parents in ensuring sustainability of rural schools (results of an exploratory study in the Republic of Bashkortostan) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 230-245.

EDN: VQQHIN

Annotation

The article presents, on the one hand, the author’s analytical findings based on the participant observation in his home region (Republic of Bashkortostan), where he has long been involved in addressing issues of school management, professional development, and retraining of school teachers and administrators to prevent and overcome management risks in the school education system at the municipal and regional levels; on the other hand, the results of an exploratory study conducted in several northern districts of Bashkortostan with survey, focus groups, and expert semi-structured interviews to identify the main categories of risks in school management from the perspective of schoolchildren’s parents and to assess the potential of the parent community to overcome them. The author previously published the general findings of another exploratory study, conducted in the same districts with the same methods but to understand how schoolchildren’s parents perceive the realities and potential of school self-government and their participation in it (Ishmukhametov, 2025). This article presents the results of a similarly designed but thematically different study conducted in some rural communities. While recognizing the limited generalizability of empirical data in an exploratory project with a small, biased sample (the opinions of the most interested and responsible parents were taken into account), the author notes both the well-known objective limitations of schools in peripheral (according to various criteria) areas and the specific problems of rural schools in the region-case under study; both the significant involvement of parents in school life, especially compared to the urban situation, and the potential for expanding parental participation; both the proactive and forced-compensatory functions of parents in supporting the functioning of rural schools. 

Keywords

Rural school, school management, parent community, management risks, exploratory research, Republic of Bashkortostan.  

About the author

Rustam R. Ishmukhametov, PhD (Sociology), Associate Professor, Institute of Education Development of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Mingazheva St., 120, Ufa, Bashkortostan, 450005, Russia.
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Sagdieva E. A. “Small homeland” in the big city: The role of regional communities in identity formation (on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 208-229.

EDN: UWKQIC

Annotation

The article considers fellowmen communities in municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan as a form of informal self-organization and influential elements in the regional social-cultural life. These communities are analyzed as erroneous forms of unification of Tatarstan rural residents in cities, which perform social, cultural and communicative functions. Based on empirical observations, interviews and case studies, the author shows how fellowmen communities become a space for reproducing local identity and maintaining horizontal connections and a symbol of the “small homeland”; considers their integration into the system of power relations and their role in the territorial social-economic development; explains transformation of regional communities from informal mutual aid groups to structured entities interacting with the authorities, business and cultural organizations, supporting social-cultural practices, symbolic politics and informal legitimation. The theoretical basis of the study includes the concepts of local identity, social networks, P. Bourdieu’s theory of capital and theory of patron-client relations, which allows to interpret regional communities not as relics of rural culture but as contemporary dynamic formations integrated into the regional governance system. Thus, the study reveals mechanisms for preserving local communities and new forms of collectivity emerging at the intersection of urbanization, migration and cultural self-determination, which helps to understand hybrid models of regional development.

Keywords

Communities, Republic of Tatarstan, local identity, territorial identity, network relations, local community, social charity.  

About the author

Elvina A. Sagdieva, PhD (Sociology), Senior Researcher, Department for Ethnological Research, Marjani Institute of History, Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. Baturina St. 7, Kazan, 420111, Russia.
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Lialina A. V., Voloshenko K. Yu., Plotnikova A. P.  Rural migration in the Kaliningrad Region: Scale and geography of flows // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2025. V.10. №4. P. 185-207.

EDN: UPONPO

Annotation

Today’s migration in rural areas of Russian regions is highly spatially heterogeneous, reflecting opposite directions of urbanization, deurbanization and suburbanization. The covid-19 pandemic together with an increase in remote employment and exclavity of the Kaliningrad Region under external restrictions (which is manifested in the region’s increased vulnerability, isolation, peripherality, closeness, limited resources and potential), on the one hand, and the region’s growing popularity among internal tourists, on the other hand, determine the transformation of internal and external migration, which undoubtedly affects rural areas. The article aims at identifying changes in the scale and geography of migration flows in rural areas of the Kaliningrad Region in 2011–2023. Relative indicators of the intensity of migration flows, which are traditional for migration studies, were calculated for the first time based on the data on internal migration between municipalities separately for rural areas. The authors applied typologization and cartographic methods to explain the differences in migration attractiveness and the features of migration in the near suburban, far suburban and peripheral zones. Thus, migration in rural areas of near suburbs is characterized by rapid growth, mainly due to the inflow from other regions and the regional center, but also as a result of resettlement in the eastern part of the region. Rural areas in far suburbs and peripheries have slowed their loss of population due to a noticeable replacement of rural-urban outflow by interregional migration.

Keywords

Rural area, internal migration, rural-urban migration, municipalities, suburbs, periphery, agglomeration, Kaliningrad Region.  

About the authors

Anna V. Lialina, PhD (Geography), Researcher, Center for Socio-Economic Research of the Region, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. A. Nevskogo St., 14, Kaliningrad, 236016, Russia.
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Ksenia Yu. Voloshenko, PhD (Economy), Head of the Center for Socio-Economic Research of the Region, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, A. Nevskogo St., 14, Kaliningrad, 236016, Russia.
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Angelina P. Plotnikova, PhD Student, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, A. Nevskogo St., 14, Kaliningrad, 236016, Russia.
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