Editorial Board: V. I. Dyatlov, S. A. Panarin, M. Ya. Rozhansky. Moscow-Irkutsk: NAT ALIS, 2005. 320 p. (Project "Ethnopolitical situation in the Baikal region: monitoring and analysis". Research. and materials. Issue 5)

In 2000-2003, with the financial support of the Moscow branch of the Ford Foundation, a project was implemented to monitor and analyze the ethnopolitical situation in Baikal Siberia. It was not limited to research tasks; in fact, it was an educational and research program aimed at additional (postgraduate) education of a large group of scientific youth. To a large extent, the goal was achieved: the team that worked on the project did not break up, but continues to engage in research and educational activities.

Within the framework of this project, several works were published in the series "Ethnopolitical situation in the Balkal region: monitoring and Analysis": E. A. Stroganova's monograph " Buryat National and Cultural Revival. (Late 80's-mid 90's of the XX century. Republic of Buryatia)", collections - " Socio-economic characteristics of the Baikal region (Republic of Buryatia, Republic of Tyva, Irkutsk region, Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug. Information and statistical collection)", " Baikal region: the legal field of the ethnopolitical situation (1992-2001)", "Baikal Siberia: fragments of a socio-cultural map. Almanac-research".

The peer - reviewed paper is the fifth and last in this series. Co-editors of the book and project managers V. I. Dyatlov, S. A. Panarin and M. Ya. Rozhansky define this publication as a problem-oriented publication.-

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new collection. In the Introduction (p. 6-22), they describe in detail the success of the project and the research tasks that have not yet been solved. It also explains the structure of the collection, which consists of four sections.

S. A. Panarin's long article "The ethnopolitical situation in the Republic of Buryatia" (pp. 23-94) covers the entire Section I. The editors of the collection explain this by the special role of Buryatia , the only national republic in the Baikal region. On the other hand, a special study by S. A. Panarin balances the almost complete absence of materials on Buryatia in the other sections of the collection, all 15 articles in which are devoted to the Irkutsk region, and only V. V. Kuklina compares the Irkutsk village of Semenovskoye with the village of Kuita in the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous District. The main source of S. A. Panarin's article was the monitoring of Buryat mass media in 1999-2003. The author also drew on a significant array of socio-economic statistics, having previously defined the initial concept of "ethnopolitical situation". The statistical facts analyzed by S. A. Panarin indicate a "trend towards a dramatic decline in the standard of living", the direct consequence of which is the outflow of the population, and the indirect consequences are an increase in unemployment, crime, poverty, inequality, excess of mortality over the birth rate, and the spread of social diseases. Some recovery in industry and agriculture after 1998 is indisputable. However, according to the author of the article, " the weaknesses of the republican economy cannot be compensated for in 4-5 years... but rather signs of growth... they are not yet so convincing that we can talk about overcoming long-term objective constraints on the economic rehabilitation of the republic" (p. 49).

Hopes for socio-economic rehabilitation and especially modernization of Buryatia can be associated primarily with the" poles of urbanization " - "cores of economic activity". This connection is objective, and it significantly complicates the ethno-political situation in Buryatia. The fact is that in all economic regions with a high concentration of the Buryat population (except the Central One, where the processes under study are determined by the capital and the only major city - Ulan-Ude), "the poles of urbanization are absent or do not have a convincing growth prospect" (p.55). The peculiarity of settlement and the lower urbanization of the Buryats "objectively put them in a worse position compared to the Russians" (p. 58).

With a long-term manifestation of depressive socio-economic trends, a significant part of the Buryat population, experiencing "the need for ethno-social modernization", adheres to the "strategy of mobility through education". S. A. Panarin analyzes in detail this contradictory process, which significantly affects the ethno-political situation. I see this analysis as an indisputable merit of the researcher, since this phenomenon, which is more or less typical of other national regions of the Russian Federation, rarely becomes the subject of special study. And the point is not to expose the" myth "of higher education as one of the main values of ethnic minorities or "titular ethnic groups". The result of this "ethnic strategy of social mobility" is much more significant: "in general, the concentration of Buryats in regional government, educational, medical and scientific structures is more than one and a half to three times higher than their share in the entire population of the republic" (p.63).

One can agree that this strategy "satisfies the need for ethno-social modernization", or clarify this formulation of S. A. Panarin, defining the main effect as compensatory, optimizing and stimulating ethnic well-being. But in any case, it is necessary to agree with the author's final conclusion: at the level of regional (not ethnic) consciousness, this strategy "does not encourage individual choice in favor of those types of activities, access to which is not conditioned by group loyalties, and leads to an increased concentration of students and scientists in branches of knowledge that are not connected or poorly connected with production,, an innovation. Consequently, it does not meet the tasks of socio-economic rehabilitation of the region" (p. 69).

The educational strategy of social mobility of the Buryat population (primarily rural), the disproportionate representation of Buryats in the management and non-production sphere, and the ten-year socio-economic crisis are the main factors of conflict genesis. However, the ethno-political situation in Buryatia is stabilized by the departure of the most active part of the Russian population from the republic (S. A. Panarin reasonably notes that "the most likely candidates for subjects of interethnic confrontation" leave), fixed in the social policy of the Republic of Buryatia.-

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the historical experience of the coexistence of Buryats and Russians, the emerging regional consciousness.

These main factors of stabilization and conflict determine the overall balance of the ethno-political situation. According to S. A. Panarin, "in the medium term, we should expect the current ethno-political situation in Belarus to remain stable" (p. 82). The researcher recognizes that the "optimistic scenario" can be destroyed by external and internal destabilizing factors, and this imposes on specialists the duty of further serious study of current processes.

Section II consists of works devoted to migration processes in Baikal Siberia. V. Y. Rabinovich in the article "Model of adaptation of alien ethno - confessional groups (on the example of pre-revolutionary Irkutsk)" (pp. 138-152) convincingly tried to identify common patterns of adaptation in Siberia for all ethnic groups: the main stages, indicators of successful and unsuccessful adaptation (the fate of the population). the second, according to the author's calculations, was experienced by at least a third of new settlers who never managed to turn into Siberians), the circle of "adaptation agents", etc.

The largest article in this section is V. I. Dyatlov's article "Migrations, migrants, "new diasporas": a factor of stability and conflict in the region "(pp. 95-137). The processes studied by the author are the result of a sharp increase in migration flows and the transformation of Russia into a "recipient country", especially in conditions when the Soviet system of organizing labor migration and integration of migrants has lost its role. I note that V. I. Dyatlov, faced with a significant spread of statistical data, actually refused to determine the quantitative parameters of migration (we are talking about the Irkutsk Region, data on which formed the basis of the article). But this does not make the author's further constructions unconvincing.

V. I. Dyatlov focuses on the study of "diasporalization" - the integration of migrants into the host society through a group ("diaspora") that has the status of a national cultural society (autonomy) or other form. The researcher shows that recently arrived migrants, well-established representatives of national minorities," ethnic activists", and the authorities are interested in" diasporalization".

One of the most important problems in social (ethno-political) stability in the region is the role of "new diasporas". V. I. Dyatlov captures the striking contradiction between the migrant-phobic (xenophobic) stereotypes of mass consciousness, the media and the real situation. The author even suggests that the mass consciousness does not feel the need for realistic information - it is quite satisfied with "the image of a criminal emigrant that does not need evidence and rational explanations" (p.122). V. I. Dyatlov's thoughts on the role of "new diasporas" in the regional political process are also interesting, but they are clearly waiting for specification.

According to the author, " the new migration situation is becoming a powerful and long-term challenge for national security." In this regard, he considers possible "strategies for responding to a call". Rejecting the "isolationist" and "ignoring" strategies, V. I. Dyatlov considers the optimal strategy for managing the process. He also offers a list of elements of such a strategy, warning that "it requires huge, often inconspicuous, ineffective, painstaking and, most importantly, everyday work" (p. 133, 134).

The detailed article "National Association in the Siberian City: a form of institutionalization of ethnicity and/or an instrument of government policy" (p.153-165) is rich in interesting facts and is presented by the head of the Public Relations Department of the Irkutsk City Administration, who is undoubtedly a competent curator of national cultural societies and autonomies - G. V. Gedvilo.

The joint publication "Shanghai in the Center of Irkutsk"by V. I. Dyatlov and R. E. Kuznetsov is also highly appreciated. Ecology of the Chinese market" (pp. 166-187). This is a convincing attempt to analyze the large urban market as a socio-economic and socio-cultural phenomenon, if not systematically, at least in a multidimensional way. The article is replete with a variety of facts-from quantitative indicators of trading activity to the results of observations and interviews.

Раздел III посвящен феномену регионального сибирского самосознания. Становление феномена в пределах в основном XIX в. исследует Л. П. Савельева в статье "Истоки сибирского регионального сознания, или о конструировании воображаемой реальности" (с. 188 - 199). Наиболее интересна та часть публикации, в которой автор выясняет, какие "факторы общественной жизни региона подпитывали вызревание региональной идентичности" (с. 194).

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The other two articles in the section do not reflect all the diversity of regional self - consciousness, since they focus on the "national-patriotic" segment of public consciousness, i.e., in fact, on the regional version of chauvinism with the inevitable motives of migrant phobia, imperial nostalgia and geopolitical interest.

Systematic interviews with editors of the Irkutsk "national-patriotic periodicals" - the monthly "Literary Irkutsk" and the weekly "Zemlya" ("Native Land") and "Russian East" - presented by D. A. Dorokhov (p. 200-221).

M. Ya. Rozhansky in the article " Phantom of the National Empire. The Russian Party in Irkutsk (p.222-248) develops two interesting subjects: the history of the formation and activities of a group of local intellectuals who promote the ideas of Russian ethno - nationalism (in particular, the role of the famous writer V. G. Rasputin) and the contradictory relationship of this "Russian party" with the "party of power". The latter readily uses "national-patriotic" rhetoric as a populist resource (M. Ya. Rozhansky's expression "administrative resource" in this case seems inaccurate). At the same time, the regional ruling elite is pragmatic enough to refrain from following chauvinistic prescriptions in practice, which is fraught with a clash of ethno-nationalisms and the destruction of social stability as the main value and optimal regime of the current "managed democracy".

Section IV includes two articles by E. M. Lozhnikova "Shelekhov-shock corporate construction" (p. 249-257) and "A smart person will develop here as well". The case of Khuzhir" (pp. 279-287), T. N. Timofeeva " Angarsk. Monograd-resources of social energy "(p. 258-269), V. A. Goloshchapova "An ungrown village" (p. 270-273), V. V. Kuklina " Modern Siberian village: the phenomenon of re-traditionalization?" (p. 274-278), S. G. Karnaukhov "The Point as a living space "(p.288-294), T. Y. Shmankevich" The shrinking city - a new segregation" and E. G. Tsepennikova "Armed with knowledge". These are essays rather than analytical works, since they are based on observations and interviews and reflect the social changes that were manifested in the post-Soviet period in the life of various Baikal settlements - from the industrial cities of Angarsk and Shelekhov to small towns and villages.

When evaluating this series of articles, there is doubt about the adequacy of their overall pessimistic tone, especially since the publications are devoted to the Irkutsk region - the most prosperous territory of Baikal Siberia. So, E. M. Lozhnikova writes about Shelekhov, where the enterprises of the Siberian-Ural Aluminum Company, primarily the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant, are successfully operating and "pulling" the city to a relatively decent level of socio-economic well-being for Siberia. However, the article ends with a bleakly vague forecast: "Although the plant is a guarantor of material stability, the life prospects of citizens are narrowing, and this, in the context of new requirements for the quality of life, not limited only to material well-being, entails the problem of a crisis of self-determination of the city and its residents" (p.256). Pessimistic notes are also heard in the second article by E. M. Lozhnikova, which states that a significant part of the population of the village of Khuzhir on the Baikal island of Olkhon literally escaped from impoverishment, having relatively successfully reoriented themselves to work in the tourism business.

I think that when developing such topics, it is advisable to more clearly represent the transit nature of modern socio-economic processes, and when forecasting, take into account not only the real, but also the alternative situation. In other words, it is useful to ask the following questions: what would be the situation of Olkhon residents if the island did not become an attractive tourist destination? what would the "crisis of self-determination" and "quality of life" in Shelekhov look like if it did not become a "shock corporate construction site"?

Evaluating the problem collection " Baikal Siberia..." we can only regret the insufficient print run (300 copies) and the fact that the series of books "The Ethnopolitical situation in the Baikal region..." ended there. The results of the work of a team of talented and energetic researchers are indisputable. I am sure that these results will be interesting for ethnologists, political scientists and Sibirists for a long time to come.

From the editorial office. One of the chapters of the monograph, which was reviewed by V. A. Korenyako, caused a noticeable and ambiguous reaction in the scientific community of Buryatia , the Russian republic to which this chapter is actually devoted. In October 2005, literally two months after the book was published, at the Faculty of History of the Buryat State University-

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The author of the chapter, S. A. Panarin, participated in the discussion of the article. A special discussion of only one part of an extensive study is rather unusual, so the editorial board of the journal considered it possible to publish a detailed review of this part by one of the participants in the discussion, PhD S. D. Batomunkuyev, an employee of the Institute of Mongolian Studies, Buddhology and Tibetology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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