Vol 16, No 3 (2024)
Theoretical Discourses and Debates
The State of Post-Industriality: The “Power of Factories”
Abstract
Post-industrial and industrial today are present in both small and medium-sized Russian towns. In some of them, they continue to operate, but can no longer provide employment for all citizens due to automation and other processes. In some others, businesses have ceased to exist, but abandoned factory spaces are viewed by residents as places where a new factory should appear, that is, exclusively in the context of industrialism. The post-industrial is manifested in the increasing demands of the population for a variety of places of work and leisure, for job security, for the environmental situation, for the comfort of life, and for access to a wide variety of resources. As a result, urban space acquires marginal characteristics: new factories do not appear, plots of land remain abandoned, tourism and creative projects are present, but are not yet decisive for such settlements.We use the theoretical frame of space production by A. Lefebvre and the approach of marginal space characteristics. For ten years we have been researching small Russian cities; the article uses materials from 2018 — 2023, obtained through semi-formalized mobile and stationary interviews, group discussions, observation and photo mapping, mental maps, as well as the “time capsule” technique. The purpose of the article is to present observations about the combination of the following phenomena, such as the continuing “power of factories” and the sprouts of creativity and tourism appearing here and there as signs of post-industriality.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):10-32
10-32
Textile Collage as the Artistic Method to Comprehend Industrial Memory: the Analysis of the Project “Radiant City” by Elena Sharganova
Abstract
The article is focused on the sociological analysis of the project “Radiant city” of Elena Sharganova, resident of the tenth season of Open Studios at the Center of Contemporary Art Winzavod (2023/24), that is devoted to the artist’s hometown — Nelidovo — and consists of a series of textile collages, made with mixed media techniques including photo printing, cyanotype, machine seam, hand embroidery. Sociological conceptualization of the project is made based on the interview with the artist, analysis of archive publications kindly provided by the artist, and researches on social memory and industrial cities. Based on the interpretation of collages as spaces of representation in terms of Henri Lefebvre that represent a zone of experience, in which images and symbols fill in physical space and knowledge about it, the article shows that the “Radiant city” is the artist’s reflections on Nelidovo’s unrealized development trajectories and destinies of small industrial cities in general. There are three key topics raised by the artist in this project: disappointment in communism and nostalgia for the past, the problem of small industrial cities’ development, interrelation of collective and individual memory. Elena Sharganova’s project significance is defined by experiments with art mediums and a research approach that brings together art and social issues.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):33-48
33-48
Visual Sociology
Visual Representations of Abandoned Industrial Spaces in Tourist Photos
Abstract
A few decades ago, an enthusiastic researcher would have found relatively few data to analyze, looking for such information about the ruins of modernity as the structural consequences caused by rapid cycles of industrialization and desolation, development and depopulation, conflict and reconciliation. However, conducting the same search today reveals an extraordinary increase in academic and public interest in the ruins of the recent past and the associated abandoned places. The authors of this article join in the discussion and explore the images of deindustrialization posted and distributed in the online communities among abandoned sites enthusiasts. The aim of the research is to form an idea of “everyday life policy” about the abandoned industrial facilities popularized by amateur photographers. “Everyday life policy” is expressed through the signifying and conceptualizing the abandoned and ruined places when putting them in a close-up. The authors rely on the ideas of the architect and historian I. de Sola-Morales, who calls the places left by people “terrain vague”. Photographic images of the terrain vague spaces play an important role in conceptualizing them. In order to understand what meanings exactly shaped the public policy, the authors use the ethnographic method of immersion in the online VKontakte/Telegram communities of abandoned sites enthusiasts to discover the recurring iconographic elements of the derelict places. Deindustrialization in photographs is reflected through 1) loss of human; 2) violence of vegetation or nature agency; 3) artifacts and texts of the past or material objects agency. The authors discuss the similarities of the images taken by amateur photographers and those media clichés found in popular movies and video games. Photographs are a way of explaining space and spatial experience. Furthermore, like any other work of art, a photo conveys not only and not so much the actual characteristics of the depicted objects, thanks to which we can form an idea about them (in this case, about space), but also effects and experiences. Thus, a photograph becomes a tool that helps us form value judgments about the places we have seen.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):49-68
49-68
Field Work Research
Perceptions of Evidence in the Veterinary Medicine of Pets
Abstract
Veterinary medicine for small domestic animals (SDA) in Russia began its development in the 1990s and is currently undergoing professional formation, engaging in a dialogue with traditional agricultural veterinary medicine. Over the last decade, the evidence-based approach has been actively developing as a foundation for making informed decisions in various aspects of professional practice. SDA veterinary medicine, as a relatively young and emerging professional field within the conservative profession of veterinary medicine, is facing a legitimacy crisis. This crisis is related to the lack of specialized education in the pathology of dogs and cats, as well as the absence of treatment protocols for SDA approved by the professional community and the state. The evidence-based approach is the foundation of modern medicine and serves as a method of legitimizing SDA veterinary practice. It addresses the needs of the primary stakeholders: colleagues, government regulators in case of disputes, and animal owners as service consumers.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):69-86
69-86
Benefit or Coercion: the Perception of Compulsory Service Programs by Doctors Who Are Employed on the Periphery
Abstract
This article examines the typology of evidence perception among veterinarians specializing in small domestic animals in Russia. Based on the analysis of 35 interviews, three main types of evidence perception by SDA veterinarians are identified: traditional, phonetical, and resident. The article also analyzes how these types influence the professional practices of veterinary specialists and considers them in the context of evidence-based medicine and its current development.The targeted recruitment program is one of the key initiatives to address the shortage of medical personnel. In recent years, the proportion of targeted placements within the budgetary intake has increased, and measures to ensure the return of targeted recruits to work in their designated areas have been intensified. However, the results of the program's implementation remain controversial. Similar foreign programs are classified either as financial incentives for doctors to work in remote areas or as coercive measures. Research indicates that perceiving the program solely as a coercive measure creates a negative attitude towards it and reduces the proportion of those who complete their service. This article, based on 21 biographical interviews, examines the perceptions of the targeted recruitment program among doctors who completed their residency and internship under the program and are now working in peripheral municipalities of the Central Federal District. The study results show that the evaluation of the program by the participating doctors is broader than the dichotomy of financial benefits from receiving free education and coercion associated with the obligation to work off the service. Implicit costs and benefits were identified, and their balance determines the perception of the targeted recruitment program at different stages: admission, education, and return for service. The negative view of the program is linked to a lack of understanding among targeted recruits of the financial benefits of participation, the necessity of relocating from the place of medical education, reluctance to sever social ties formed over the years of study, lack of conditions for primary professional socialization, uncomfortable working and living conditions after returning to serve. For some informants, the forced nature of the service is offset by opportunities for obtaining prestigious education, prospects for gaining real work experience, professional and career growth, additional financial and housing support, support from colleagues and administration, as well as personal and family factors related to returning to their hometown or personal demographic events.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):87-109
87-109
Book Reviews
Hegemony and Transformism: Post-Soviet Trade Unions as an Object of Study
Abstract
The article discusses Maksim Kulaev’s book “Trade Unions, Workers’ Movements, and Hegemony in Contemporary Russia”, which is dedicated to the history of trade union and workers’ movements in the post-Soviet era. The author attempts not only to reconsider what has happened to trade unions over the last thirty years but also to make sense of them drawing on Antonio Gramsci’s theory, which emphasized the need for the formation of hegemony as a sociocultural framework rather than purely political framework, enabling the establishment of value foundations for the dominance of the working class and resistance to the dominant hegemony of capitalist elites.The book chapters, in which the author describes the history, discourse, and interactions of trade unions with various political forces and social movements, are undoubtedly valuable. Importantly, this analysis is built on a vast array of diverse information—observations, documents, interviews, and data by other researchers. This allowed the author to critically reassess the data obtained in the 1990s, a time when much was still unknown and unclear. Now, this work represents a significant milestone, providing a perspective on the post-Soviet development of the workers’ and trade union movements after a quarter of a century. The book is of interest to researchers studying social structures, trade union and workers’ movements, and socio-labor relations.
Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2024;16(3):110-120
110-120