Komsomol of Novosibirsk Akademgorodok and Socio-Political Aspects of Electoral Processes in Oral Historical Sources (1958–1965)

The phenomenon of electoral behavior of Komsomol youth of Novosibirsk Akademgorodok during its formation is considered through the prism of oral history.Using the example of several oral historical sources, the socio-political aspects (social conflicts, ideological guidelines, political "differences of opinion") of electoral processes at the level of Komsomol organizations of the scientific center are reproduced.Oral narratives describe the process of electoral activity within the Komsomol structures of Akademgorodok -the Soviet district committee of the Komsomol and the Komsomol committee of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences.The first two interviews make it possible to reconstruct the events of 1958-1959, when, in the difficult conditions of the construction of a scientific center, against the backdrop of social conflicts at various levels, the primary Komsomol organizations of scientific youth and the builders of Academgorodok united.The last two interviews describe how in the mid-1960s.the ideas of Komsomol reformism influenced the electoral behavior of scientific youth during district and city reporting and election conferences.It is concluded that in the conditions of the local society of a scientific center, the electoral behavior of scientific youth, in addition to ritual political practices, included elements of political activism based on corporate scientific solidarity, as well as on the conviction of the necessity, possibility and legality of changing their position in the system of intergroup relations , including through influencing the electoral process on the scale of the city and district Komsomol organization.The core of the electoral activism of Komsomol scientists was formed by group and personal connections based on professional contacts and intra-scientific interests.