Опубликовано в журнале Неприкосновенный запас, номер 3, 2010
The 71st NZ issue continues the main topics of the previous releases — specifying the problematics and expanding the context. The urbanistic studies, which become the main content of the 70th issue, are presented by Ekaterina Khodzhaeva’s sociological mini-research about the basic strategy of policemen’s behavior with respect to labor migrants (on an example of Kazan). Materials on urbanistics are adjoined by articles devoted to problems of the Russian federalism. The general state of affairs is provided in the article of NZ editor Andrey Zakharov, and intermediate results of integration of the Russian regions are analyzed by Alexander Kynev. Some methodological aspects of studying a phenomenon of the Russian federalism are presented in the article of Nizhniy Novgorod political scientist Andrey Makarychev.
Historical memory and relations between politics and culture — are the topics of the three main sections of this NZ issue. The first topic includes two articles about the role of material symbols in manufacturing of memory of Stalin purges (“Crosses and Stones: Solovetsky Symbols in Memory Designing about GULAG” by Zuzanna Bogumil and “Perpetuating of Memory about Deported is the Business of Deported” by Pavel Polyan). The article of American researcher Kevin M.F. Platt devoted to various historical material layers of identity of Riga ends this selection. The text by Platt throws a bridge to the following section the 71st issue — Politics of Culture. Here representation of (national) identity is analyzed on the example of the Belarusian blog sphere (the article by Julia Chernyavskaya). Philosopher and sociologist Dmitry Gorin provides the analysis of that he names “traps of social thinking and integrity imitation” — in the Russian context. Modern politics, sociality and traditional culture — these are the topic of conversation by Alexander Chantsev with the two well-known Russian Japonists — Alexander Meshcheryakov and Victor Mazurik.
The concept of “modernization” became the vital topic of the political agenda set by the present authorities of the country. Historian Nikita Sokolov traces in his essay the history of attempts of the reforms carried out by the Russian authorities (“Russian Modernization from the Copper Horseman to Iron Felix”), and political scientist Alexey Makarkin concentrates on today’s situation (“Liberal Bureaucrats and the Russian Reforms”). The thread topic of publications is the discussion of the thesis according to which traditionally initiators of any reforms in Russia become the liberal part of bureaucracy.
But let us return to the politics and culture in the context of discussions about national identities, which is the topic of the third selection of articles of this NZ issue. An interesting story of unfortunate reforms of the Russian spelling after the Second World War is presented by Olga Karpova. One more unsuccessful reform of norms in sphere of language policy — in Ukraine — is the topic of mini-research by Volodymyr Kulyk (“Spelling, Language, Identity”). From language reforms — to formation of language as socially significant problem — this is the topic of Veronica Furs’s article “Discursive Formation of Belarusian Language Problem: Topos of Argumentation”.
As usually there are constant rubrics of NZ chief-editor Ilya Kalinin (Daily Political Economy), Alexey Levinson (Sociological Lyrics), Alexander Kustarev (Political Imaginary). Another material that deserves attention is an interview with the well-known advocate Irina Khrunova, devoted to the “case of major Evsyukov” that revolted the Russian society.
The issue ends with the traditional Russian Intellectual Journals’ Review (by Vyacheslav Morozov and Peter Rezvyh) and New Books section.