The humanities and social science

This article explores local crafts of peasant women of the north-western provinces, namely, weaving, needlework, and lacework. The work conditions are examined. The author stresses that workers were highly dependent on dealers who provided them with raw materials and sold their products at the market. The phenomena identified are indicative of the formation of capitalistic forms of using the labour of peasant women practicing crafts, including that of a “dispersed manufactory.”

This article analyses Nikolai Ustryalov’s concept of “Russian Lithuania,” which presents the history of medieval Lithuanian as part of the Russian past. The author examines the career of S. S. Uvarov – Minister of National Enlightenment in the 1830 – 1840s, as well as other factors behind the official narrative about the “Russian character” of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The paper stresses the significance of Ustryalov’s concepts in the Russian historiography in the first half of 19th century.

This article analyses the influence of the Varennes crisis on the balance of political forces in the National Constituent Assembly and Le Chapelier’s and other constitutionalists’ opposition to the radicals in the Assembly and in the streets in order to strengthen the position of the king and constitutional mon¬archy.

This article focuses on various aspects of social and everyday life in Japan of Meiji period Japan that were discussed in the memoires of two prominent representatives of the Western world — Mary Crawford Fraser and Alice Mabel Bacon. They paid special attention not to the political transformations but rather to the everyday life of Japanese society. The author stresses the special interest of the travelers in the changes in European ladies that took place during the Meiji Revolution and their effect on women of Japanese aristocratic families. The article shows how the Japanese ladies adopted European traditions still maintaining Japanese manners and views.

This article examines the political, public, and humanitarian initiatives of Jimmy Carter after leaving the White House in 1981. Today, the Ex-President is the oldest politician whose name became a synonym for honesty, integrity, and service to others.

Based on documents of the State Archive of the Kaliningrad region that were not previously used for scientific purposes, this article attempts to examine the specific Soviet social phenomenon of factory pilfers and identify the reasons behind its development, as well as its extents at factory No. 820 (today, the Yantar factory). The author presents the facts of petty thefts at the factory and analyses corresponding punishments and the management’s attitude towards pilfers.

The preparation of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of September 7, 1946 on renaming the district centers of the Kaliningrad region is analysed based on documents of federal archives. Principles behind giving Soviet names to former German towns were changed several times in the process. At different stages, new names were given in view of the former Russian, Polish, or Lithuanian name, a town’s geographical position, Russian and Soviet military history, and communist ideology.

This article analyses the significance of private subsidiary farming for peasant settlers during late Stalinism. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of private land plots and the livestock number at peasant farms. It is concluded that subsidiary farming played a key role in the survival strategy of kolkhoz members in a post-war Soviet village.

Based on documents of the State Archive of the Kaliningrad region that were not previously used for scientific purposes, this article attempts to examine the specific Soviet social phenomenon of factory pilfers and identify the reasons behind its development, as well as its extents at factory No. 820 (today, the Yantar factory). The author presents the facts of petty thefts at the factory and analyses corresponding punishments and the management’s attitude towards pilfers.

This article describes the major issues in studying the gender aspects of the First World War in modern historiography. Major topics of studies include women on the battlefield and on the home front, gender-specific propa¬ganda, and the crisis of masculinity. The author argues that the explanation of history of societies during and after WWI is incomplete without taking into account the gender aspects.

This article describes different aspects of the everyday life of the German military elite during World War I. The author stresses the effect of protracted hostilities on professional high-ranking officers in view of their age, special social standards, and family relations. Special attention is paid to a new little-studied area of research.

This article analyses the cycle War (Krieg) by the German painter Käthe Kollwitz as a testimony of the First World War. The author argues that the testimony of the painter has been underestimated. Current gender studies make it possible to interpret K. Kollwitz’s works as a historical source for reconstructing the memory of the war.

This article explores the contentious issue of the role of Russian generals in the Gumbinnen battle of 1914 and the operations of Russian army in East Prussia in 1914—1915. The relations of Generals Pavel Rennenkampf and Nikolai Yepanchin are analysed in the context of the military activities of Russian troops at the initial stage of the First World War.

This article discusses the ontological and epistemological aspects of the interpretation of time in N. O. Lossky’s ideal realism. It is stressed that time is a form of events initiated by substantial actors in the process of world creation. The author analyses the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of time. The features of synchronous and asynchronous aspects of cognising existential processes by an agent are identified in the framework of epistemology.

This article compares a cognitive approach to argumentation with message production. The author distinguishes between two kinds of cognitive approaches to argumentation. Certain similarities and differences between D. Hample’s and V. Bryushinkin’s concepts are analysed. The most influential conceptions of message production are considered. The connection between message production and argumentorics is examines.

This article investigates the problem of a correlation between the phenomena of multiculturalism and morality in a globalized public space. Human community is considered within intercultural relations and associated interpersonal conflicts. A search for the ways of personal development based on clear moral principles is studied in the context of the methodological possibilities of multiculturalism. It is argued that the integration of a globalised com¬munity takes place within the moral development of a public space incorporating of a variety of cultures

This article analyses Robert Merton’s and Thomas Kuhn’s approaches to the concept of paradigm. Whereas Merton identifies the function of a paradigm in analysing data obtained within a social study, Kuhn considers a paradigm as a key notion at a certain stage of the development of science – that of normal science. It is stressed that, despite differences in approaches, the theories do not contradict but rather complement each other.

This article considers the role of symbols in the system of social interactions. Symbolical interactionism is examined as a methodological framework for studying administrative practices. The key notion of the concept of symbolical interactionism — “a symbol in the course of interaction” – is interpreted as a wide range of meanings including, alongside linguistic structures, determinants in the form of cultural, organizational and group factors. The efficiency of management process is associated with concurrence of the personified blocks of symbols of the subject and the object of administrative interactions. The authors address the problem of correlation between the categories of “management” and “situation”.

This article analyses human capital of young public and political figures in modern Russian society. Based on the methodology of resource approach and the methods of modern statistics, the author identifies three groups of young public and political figures: political leaders, political activists, and social activists, which makes it possible to demonstrate differentiation within this category. The results of an online survey of the participants of the Seliger-2013 national youth forum (N = 439) served as the empirical basis of the study.

This article focuses on the political processes in the countries of Eurasian continent against the background of Eurasian integration. The author describes the steps of the integration process. The article compares assessments of Eurasian integration given by scholars and political scientists from different countries. The author considers the features of different stages of Eurasian integration in view of the processes of political competition and consolidation within the Eurasian space.