Contents and Abstracts

Theory

Valery V. Kanischev. Socio-natural foundations of the Eastern Slavic integrity in the Middle Age and Modern Time (pp. 3–14).

From ancient times, the inland waterways tied together the Black Sea and the Caspian basins. Through the 6^th and 7^th centuries, the Eastern Slavs spread from the Carpathians to the Middle Volga. By the end of the tenth century, as a result of princely and people colonization from south west to north east and east, a large part of Kievan Rus turned located on the territory of contemporary Russia.

In the 17^th century during the construction of the Belgorod and other fortification lines, the Russian and Ukrainians held together to build and to defend them. Well before the accession of several Ukrainian provinces to Russia under Bogdan Khmelnitsky’s leadership, the Russian state had considered the Dnieper-Don forest-steppe as its own land. In the second half of the 17^th century, more than 20 districts (uezd) of modern East Ukraine were Russian territory, not to speak about the autonomous “Ukrainian regiments” at Russian service.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, some Ukrainian regions (gubernias) encompassed the Russian lands and vice versa. From the 17^th century to the 1850s, the Ukrainian Regions of the Russian Empire were gradually bound together with its South and the Central Provinces by several State Postal Highways. Dozens of the Ukrainian cities and towns had permanent trade partnership with South Russian towns through the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The absence of natural borders at the Russian-Ukrainian frontier led to smuggling which made Russia to install customs and organize jamming arrays. From the late 18^th century, both the Ukrainians and the Russians mostly from the Central Black-Earth region of Russia started to inhabit Novorossia (New Russia). Such migration began with an excuse to go to get money from the haymaking and harvest which turned to a full-time employment at Donetsk coal and ore mines. At the threshold of the 20^th century, a number of complex social and economic issues of the regions acted as an impetus to the general agrarian revolution in Russia.

Keywords: socio-natural environment, the Russians, the Ukrainians, historical and genetic ties, administrative-territorial ties, military service, noblemen, trade, labor ties.

Darya S. Panarina. The border and frontier as a factor of development of a region and/or a country (pp. 15–41).

The article considers the concept of a border and the phenomenon of a frontier which arose from this conception as well as the degree of possible and real influence of these phenomena on the development of the territories whether it be a separate administrative region within country or a country as a whole. The article is based on the theoretical data on the concept of a border and on the facts from the history of the USA and of Russia and of some other countries including the Asian countries like India or China. The article also concerns the myth which originated at the border, the laws of its origin and development and the degree of its influence on the formation of peculiar perception in the country, mentality of a nation including tendencies in foreign policy.

Keywords: border, frontier, myth, Syberian frontier, boundary, zonal border.

Yakov G. Riyer. Searching for historical patterns (pp. 42–62).

At all times history with its experience of the past is interesting not only for the experts, but also to a wide range of scholars from different fields. The apparent availability of historical material, written in plain, simple language, tempts many people to have their say on the understanding of the past and without special training, which often leads to mistakes. But there are good examples of a successful combination of natural history and human approaches to historical analysis. The article deals with Eduard Kulpin’s research developed within his socio-natural study of history. Nevertheless, some of general theoretical views of the author of socio-natural history require the specifications which are presented in this article. In conclusion, the author proposes a common viewpoint concerning the beginning of socialization of the human community.

Keywords: history, naturalists, humanitarians, natural scientists, scholars, historical sources, modelling of the historical processes, West – East, Chinese civilization, European West, antiquity, the Middle Ages.

History of societies and civilizations

Vitaly Y. Darenskiy. Some constants of the Russian social ideal and its historical foundations (pp. 63–80).

The article considers the specific character of historical foundations of the Russian social ideal. The Russian social ideal is analyzed in terms of the key events of the Russian history. The specific character of this ideal is interpreted as closely connected with the nature of human freedom and atonement of national and historical mistakes. The phenomenon of Russian metaphysics of the power is considered within historical context. The conception of the Russian social ideal allows considering Russian history as a spiritual phenomenon which contributed to the formation of national culture.

Keywords: Russia, social ideal, metaphysics of power, freedom, history.

Anton I. Kogan. Some problems of Kashmir sultanate’s history (final part) (pp. 81–98).

The paper addresses some issues of cultural history of Kashmir in the 14^th – 16^th centuries, especially those related to the spread of Islam in the country. The author makes an attempt to establish chronological limits of this process and to determine its driving forces. Basing on several historical records, he concludes that in the early 16^th century the Kashmir Valley was already predominantly the Muslim area. Besides, he adduces a number of facts to show that the activity of Sufi missionaries could not be the main cause of mass islamization. In the author’s opinion, the most probable reason of confessional transformation is mass migration which altered radically the ethnic composition of the country. On this basis the conclusion is drawn that changes in religion should not be studied separately from metamorphoses in some other spheres of life, particularly in economy and technologies. All such metamorphoses should be considered as different dimensions of ethnic processes in medieval Kashmir.

Keywords: Kashmir sultanate, history of Kashmir, history of India, Islam, Islamization, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Sufism, ethnic migrations, the Dard people.

Alexey А. Streltsov. The anarchists on education (pp. 99–126).

The article presents the views of the founders and main theorists of anarchism on the problem of public education that defines its scientific novelty. The chronological framework is from the end of the 18^th to the second half of the 20^th centuries. It is shown in what way the opponents of the idea of statehood saw its drawbacks. There are some proposals in this regard. The article considers the ideas of two American researchers: Peter Goodman whose ideas are not popular in our country and Ivan Illich whose book was translated into Russian but was not subjected to a critical scientific overview.

Keywords: anarchism, public education, libertarianism, Godwin, Stirner, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goodman, Illich.

Nature and society

Vladimir V. Klimenko, Alexey G. Tereshin. Billion tons of fuel for Russia is less than necessary (pp. 127–141).

Based on the original approach to the estimation of the optimal required amount of energy and with the account of climatic and geographical conditions of the countries and regions, the authors assess the energy consumption of the Russian Federal districts. It is shown that almost all regions, including attached Crimea, are not energy sufficient and in order to reach the level of developed economies Russia with its natural environment should at least double its energy consumption. Only the Ural district with its huge hydrocarbon resources is at the lower limit of energy sufficiency. The targets of the Energy Strategy of Russia for the period up to 2030 will fail to provide an optimal level of regional energy consumption, and international climate protection legislation could become a serious obstacle to further increase of energy consumption and yet another source of disagreement between Russia and the world community.

Keywords: optimal energy consumption, geographical location, Russia, Federal districts, Energy Strategy up to 2030, international commitments on climate protection.

Natalia O. Kovaleva, Ivan V. Kovalev, Ekaterina M. Stolpnikova. Original water supply technologies in the medieval towns of Crimea (pp. 142–155).

The analysis of the causes of the self-supporting water supply in prosperous medieval towns of steppe Crimea shows that Konstantin Paustovsky in his story “Mountain dew” poetically exaggerated the volumes of condensation moisture in mountain stone basins. The source of water in medieval and modern Crimea is accumulated gravitational moisture in the caverns of the Crimean Mountains, that is the moisture of atmospheric precipitations and surface runoff. The paleoclimatic reconstruction of the epoch of prosperity of Solhat and Suhdayij is performed basing on the study of soil indicators and bio-markers: magnetic susceptibility, humus condition, indicators of granulometric composition, spectra of reflectivity, content of carbonates, and group composition of phosphorus. The obtained results demonstrate the high groundwater levels during the medieval period, that is the increase of climate humidity. The original technology, providing the city with water, was a system of “kariz” for bilateral water management. During wet periods underground channels worked as drainage system, collecting water in wells and lowering the groundwater level. In dry periods, the channels and pottery pipelines transported the water of springs, surface and underground runoff to the urban fountains and baths.

Keywords: landscape hydrology, medieval Crimea, paleoclimatology, soil indicators, technology of water supply.

Vasily V. Ushnitsky. The taiga Turks of Siberia: The culture of life subsistence and material culture (pp. 156–164).

The article examines the culture of life subsistence of the Turkic population of the Siberian taiga zone. The data of field expeditions to the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang, to Tuva people in China were used. Along with horse breeding and hoe agriculture, hunting and fishing, and gathering have been the basis of their economy.

Keywords: taiga, Siberia, field ethnography, Turks, the culture of life support, material culture, the Tuvans, the Altaians.

XXI century – the age of ecology

Оlga V. Aksenova. The role of cultural factors in the elimination of the consequences of ecological disaster (pp. 165–177).

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of the role of values defined as principles of behavior and ideal goals in the elimination of environmental catastrophe. The technological system tends to formalize the actor by transforming values into norms, standards, rules and algorithms. The environmental disasters, including catastrophes, are considered as an immanent property of the system. The paper compares the role of norms and values before and after a disaster. The theoretical approach is based on Charles Perrow’s concept of system accident. The main part of research is devoted to historical retrospective analysis of the activities of nuclear plant staff and operators connected with functioning of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant before and after the catastrophe. The organization of the elimination of consequences is analyzed.

Keywords: values, principles, ideal goals, personality, actor, agent, system, technology, environmental accident, risk, technology, norms.

Ekaterina A. Borisova. The ecological aspects of water consumption in China (pp. 178–188).

China’s water resources are under the most serious anthropogenic impact today. Their characteristics heavily depend on population growth and economic development. The Government is trying to reduce the burden on the environment, but these efforts, on the one hand, conflict with the plans of economic development, and on the other, continue transforming natural landscapes, disrupting the natural balance. The hydropower becomes one of the implementations of these efforts.

Keywords: China, water resources, hydropower, green power, environment, dams.

Irina A. Khaliy. The ecological consciousness of the population of present-day Russia (pp. 189–205).

In the article the environmental consciousness of modern Russian population is analyzed basing on the author’s long-term research and on the results of polls by FOM, VTSIOM and “Levada-Center”. It is shown that representatives of the environmental movement organizations are the vanguard of the public environmental opinion, just their activity in the field of nature protection and environmental education largely influence the degree of ecologisation of public consciousness in general. The author presents the results of the secondary analysis of mass nationwide surveys revealing the indicators of the degree of environmental consciousness of population in our country.

Keywords: environmental movement, non-profit organizations, mass consciousness, ecologization of consciousness, mass surveys.

The link of time

Galina A. Kruglova. The environmental safety and Christianity in the globalization (pp. 206–218).

An important condition for ensuring the environmental safety is “ecological restructuring” of attitude. There should take place a profound change in public opinion towards a more humane attitude to nature. Religious organizations can play a certain role in this context. Though every Christian confession offers a peculiar vision and understanding of environmental issues, but the major points are common. All Christian denominations see the main causes of the ecological crisis in the violation of “religious and moral foundations of the world”. The way out is the creation of “new ethic”. They try to connect “two crises: spiritual and ecological”, claiming that “spiritually degrading personality brings degradation of nature”.

A distinctive feature of Christian ecotheology in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries is the analysis of environmental problems in connection to other global problems.

Keywords: current global problems, ecology, Christian concepts of global problems, nature’s theology, new Christian asceticism, evangelization, orthodox concepts, catholic concepts, protestant concepts of ecological problems.

Contents and Abstracts (pр. 219–222)