The Role of Grassroots Self-Organization of the Population in the Development of Peripheral Rural Areas

The article systematises the practices of self–organisation of the population in rural areas remote from large cities and local development centres. Various practices existing within the institutional framework stipulated by the laws on local self-government (participatory budgeting, territorial public self-government, etc.) are identified, as well as informal and non-institutionalised forms of resident participation in the development of their territories. Grant projects from state and non-state funds aimed at creating new cultural objects and improving rural areas are considered separately. The study is based on materials from field expeditions to several districts in the Vologda and Nizhny Novgorod regions, during which in-depth and expert interviews, as well as included and hidden observations, were conducted. When generalising the practices, much attention was paid to the problems they solve, whether they only contribute to maintaining the current level of development of the territories or lead to the emergence of new growth points and new centres for attracting residents. We can talk about the erosion of participatory budgeting mechanisms because they are largely aimed at solving current problems of improvement and infrastructure maintenance, effectively replacing the liquidated powers of local government. Projects aimed at development rely on grant funds or on the resources of the initiators themselves, the presence of which largely depends on a complex combination of local characteristics and the symbolic capital of the area. The article concludes with a discussion of the role of new rural (former urban) residents in rural self-organisation. The latter actively bring their meanings to the development of territories, which leads to conflicts with indigenous residents and is understood using the concept of ‘spatiality’.

self-organization, periphery, rural areas, territorial public self-government, participation, social capital