Life of a Far Eastern Village in 1970-1991 in the Soviet and Russian Researchers Publications

The purpose of the study is to analyze historical events related to the development of the Far Eastern rural areas in 1970–1991, and the objectives are to identify the stages, patterns and features of the process of scientific study of the rural reality of the Far Eastern Region. In the course of working on the paper, both general scientific and historical methods were used. Research was based on fundamental scientific principles, such as critical interpretation of sources, depoliticization, and historicism. The author analyzes publications related to life, daily life, the financial situation of the rural population, social policy, demographic and migration processes. It is noted that for a long time the evolution of the rural society of the Far East during the periods of “developed” (or “late”) socialism and perestroika was not the focus of attention of researchers who relied on the formational approach that was dominant until the early 1990s. Scientists idealized the state of affairs in rural areas, presenting existing problems and difficulties as temporary phenomena that could be overcome in the foreseeable future. In the post-Soviet period, the study of the life of villagers continued from new methodological positions, in particular, based on the theory of modernization. A surge of interest in regional rural reality occurred at the beginning of the 21st century. Historians have paid attention to issues related to food, the state of housing and household infrastructure, agricultural resettlement, and the subjective perception of life by the villagers themselves. To date, a complex of scientific research on the history of the Far Eastern village has been formed, including papers, monographs and dissertations, but a number of issues remain on the periphery of research interest and require further study.