Understanding the Post-Agrarianism of Rural Areas: Post-Agrarianism As a Theoretical Concept and a Research Framework

The paper is devoted to the understanding of the rural post-agrarianism concept as a theoretical framework and applied research scheme for the Russian villages’ development potential and their contemporary social problems. Based on the discussion of the in-depth literature review of postagrarian studies from several regions (USA, Poland, South Africa, Russia), the authors outline the range of possible research questions and potential practical applications of post-agrarian optics. Primarily, the research perspectives for Russian rural landscapes in the study focus on the human capital, economic utility, and development policies and on the potential research methods that may be applied.
On the basis of the conducted evaluation, the authors come to understand post-agrarian optics as an innovative and agile theoretical concept that has a significant potential for the study of the social aspect of rural life and its economic structure due to its flexible conceptual scheme and diverse methodological framework (in particular, in combination with the analysis of natural factors with the modern Russia socio-economic conditions).

According to the authors, research in the logic of post-agrarianism can significantly contribute to a scientifically proven solution to a number of key problems of the Russian village by identifying its development potential in various spheres of activity, determining economic prospects, developing social technologies for the growth of the Russian villagers’ welfare, and the development of human capital of Russian rural settlements. These problems include lack of sustainability of local communities, local entrepreneurship stagnation, low effectiveness of local institutions, and many others. Relying on the complex pilot study results in the Gorodetsky area (Nizhny Novgorod Region of Russia) based on the complex matrix analysis tool developed by the team, the authors propose further vectors for the progress of post-agrarian research specifically in Russia and assess the possibilities of further research in postagrarian optics in Russia.