АУТОР / AUTHOR(S): Iaroslav Kuksin 
DOI: 10.46793/CSGE5.62IK
САЖЕТАК / ABSTRACT:
The report will discuss the importance of self-organization of the population in peripheral rural areas. Sources include interviews, field observations and open municipal statistics. To collect data, the author took part in three expeditions in 2023–2024 and surveyed three municipal districts covering over 20 settlements in Vologda and Nizhny Novgorod oblasts of Russia. Traditionally, the leading role in the development of rural areas in Russia is reserved by authorities and business representatives, while population itself is considered as passive recipients of assistance. However, in peripheral territories, where the role of the state authorities is barely noticeable and large businesses may be absent, self-organization and mutual assistance practices come to the fore. These practices can be institutionalized and informal, aimed at development and contributing to maintenance of existing assets. The most universal mechanisms of self-organization are the programs of participation implemented at the federal and regional levels. According to Matthew effect, these programs are most effective in areas with high potential and resources for development, while nearly absent in depressive depopulating settlements. Basically, the participation programs are used to maintain existing assets and infrastructure. These programs often become a resource for local authorities to solve problems lacking funds from their subsidized budgets. For development purposes, there are other institutionalized resources of self-organization—grant programs, but such initiatives are much less common. Informal self-organization is most often tied either to a specific person, or to a community or organization. Examples of the first case are much more common, but they are less stable in the long-term prospect. The main limitation of self-organization that condemns the territory to stagnation and depopulation is the lack of social capital and active people in many peripheral villages. Difficulties are distinguishing in areas of high socio-cultural diversity, when the goals and values of various actors differ dramatically and can cause social conflicts. Thus, in peripheral rural areas, forms of self-organization arise that perform the functions of the state where it turns out to be insufficiently effective. This suggests the need to take this factor into account in geographical studies of rural settlement.
КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ / KEYWORDS:
self-organization; rural development; periphery; participation; rural settlement