Issue 2025 No. 4 (85)

This article analyzes the development of transport routes that supported the salt mining industry in the Volga-Caspian region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using the salt mines of Lake Elton and Baskunchak as examples, it examines the relationship between salt production volumes and the organizati ... on of their transportation to storage sites and markets. It demonstrates that the effective operation of the mines required the creation of a mechanism for interaction between the state and salt producers, as well as the creation of conditions for the development of associated transport infrastructure. Freight transport crises impacted the operation of the mines, were systemic in nature, and were driven by the overall socioeconomic and political situation in the country. The government attempted to control these processes and promptly resolve emerging difficulties through administrative means. However, the industry's further development was hampered by a lack of free competition and private investment, leading to systemic crises. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, government authorities responded with alternating tightening and promotion of salt legislation. The resolution of key issues in the relationship between private capital and government, the admission of capitalist elements to the extraction and transportation of salt, and the introduction of advanced technologies into production in the second half of the 19th century made it possible to create an effectively functioning salt industry not only on a regional scale, but also on a national scale.
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The article shows the difficulties in preparing for the introduction of the Judicial Statutes of 1864 in the Astrakhan province in the last quarter of the 19th century. The absence of an agricultural element in the province hindered the implementation of zemstvo reform, which in turn delayed judicia ... l reform, since it was the zemstvos that had to maintain the magistrates' courts. The high level of development of commodity-money relations, the development of entrepreneurial activity and the rapid growth in the field of fishing in the post-reform period required the early introduction of fast and fair justice. The article analyzes the role of fishing in Astrakhan province in the context of financial flows directed to the maintenance of world justice in the last quarter of the 19th century, in order to identify the relationship between the economic activity of the region and the functioning of the new judicial system. Based on legislative documents and office materials, the author concludes that the profitability potential of fishing has become a key factor in accelerating the pace of preparation and implementation of the first stage of the judicial reform of 1864 in Astrakhan province – the introduction of the institute of the World Court. For the first time, the practice of taxation of fishing waters as immovable property was applied by establishing the equivalence of the amount of taxation of fishing with an additional fee to the amount of taxation with the collection of audit souls. The initiative of the provincial authorities to re-evaluate the profitability of fishing waters allowed not only to increase the amount of collection from state-owned and privately owned waters to cover the costs of the state treasury for the maintenance of justice of the peace, but also to ensure the opening of new judicial magistrates in the future and an increase in the number of district magistrates, which increased the efficiency of the post-reform judicial system in the region.
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This study addresses the significance of analyzing subcultures within Russian society in the context of broader socio-political transformations. The aim of the research is to explore the sailor subculture and how its development correlates with societal transformations in Russia. The study draws upo ... n unpublished archival materials, published documents, periodical press sources, and memoirs of contemporaries. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach, utilizing comparative-historical and historical-genetic research methods, along with tools from social and political philosophy. Key elements of the sailor subculture are analyzed, including clothing and overall appearance, behavioral patterns, and tattoos. The study also examines the measures taken by the command of the Imperial Russian Navy and the Soviet Navy to combat the negative aspects of sailor subculture. The research concludes that the sailor subculture, which took shape in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, underwent significant changes during the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War. These changes were influenced by shifts in the domestic political climate and the temporary loosening of societal regulations. A connection is established between the sailor subculture of the 1920s and the criminal subculture of the early Soviet Union. It is shown that the Soviet transition to strict norms of appearance and behavior in the late 1920s–1930s also affected the sailor subculture, forcing its more distinctive manifestations underground. Thus, the study demonstrates that the sailor subculture evolved under the influence of socio-political processes in the country. While the consolidation of Soviet power suppressed many aspects of sailor subculture, it could not completely eliminate them.
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The land arrangement of nomadic peoples in pre-revolutionary Russian society is studied in the context of studying the process of involving peoples in the common space of the state. The purpose of the article, using the example of the Kalmyks and Kazakhs of the Astrakhan province, is to study the la ... nd arrangement of the two communities, to identify common and special features in its regulation, and to analyze the measures proposed by the Russian authorities to reform the land issue of these peoples in the early 20th century. The archival case on the project of reforming the administrative, judicial and local administration of the Inner Kyrgyz Horde and the Kalmyk Steppe in 1913 is given as a source. The research methods are based on historical- developmental and comparative historical approaches. The study examines the borders of the Kalmyk Steppe and the Inner Horde, the distribution of lands and their lease, the size and order of land use, the development of agriculture, and the proposed measures by the authorities to reform the Kalmyk Steppe and the Inner Horde in 1913 in the land issue. The main common feature seems to be that the lands of both ethnoterritorial entities were the property of the Russian state, respectively, the distribution of land can only be discussed in the context of land use. The land development of nomadic peoples was temporary until the final transition to settlement and the all-Russian level of organization of local administration. However, this issue was not resolved on the eve of 1917. There was land constraint in the Inner Horde, although there were exceptions. In the Kalmyk steppe, due to the presence of surplus land, an important role belonged to the rental lands.
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The scientific article describes the process of awarding orders and medals to Voronezh police officers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Information about the awarding of Voronezh police officers in the pre-revolutionary period is contained in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GA ... RF). Among the awarded Voronezh police officers were district police officers, bailiffs, assistants to the bailiff of the city unit, senior policemen, police officers, police officers for hire and messengers of the district police department. Practically, awards of orders and medals of the Russian Empire covered all categories of police officers of the Voronezh province. Actually, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Voronezh Province police had an extensive infrastructure and solved the most diverse tasks of solving crimes and maintaining public order. Accordingly, different service categories of Voronezh police officers were awarded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. All awards of Voronezh police officers were submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire by the Voronezh Governor, who himself was an employee of the mentioned Russian department. After that, the police officer was awarded a state award. Thanks to information about the awarding of orders and medals to Voronezh police officers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is possible to get an idea of the directions of their professional activities.
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This article examines the challenges of logistics development associated with the modernization of the Volga-Caspian transit route in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries, which at that time was the busiest trade artery of the Russian Empire. Fish products from the Volga-Caspian fishin ... g region constituted an important component of the cargo flow along this route. A significant increase in their popularity in the second half of the 19th century was driven by the growing urban population, which actively purchased high-quality and affordable fish products from Astrakhan. It has been proven that sustained demand compelled fishery companies, along with river and railway workers, to seek ways to deliver perishable products to various regions of the country. Successful solutions to this logistical challenge contributed to improving food supplies for the population and easing social tensions in growing urban agglomerations. As the research results demonstrate, this was made possible by two key factors that demonstrated significant progress in the production and transportation of fish and fish products. First, in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the transport capabilities of the Volga-Caspian transit route significantly expanded: steamships replaced sailing vessels, powerful shipping companies emerged, and railway construction was actively underway. These changes significantly accelerated cargo movement and expanded the geographic markets for Astrakhan fish products. Furthermore, the competition for trade flows between railway and shipping companies forced competitors to lower transportation rates and quickly implement technical innovations. Secondly, there was competition between "old" fishing capital and "new" financial capital, represented in the Astrakhan province at the end of the 19th century by the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank, for control over the fishing industry and the transportation of fish products. As a result of the financiers' activities, a system of fish product delivery developed in the Volga-Caspian fishing region, parallel to that of the large fishing firms, through a network of independent, specialized shipping companies.
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This article examines the activities of the Novorossiysk Society of Homing Pigeon Sports in Odessa, including training and competitions among homing pigeons. The study of the activities of public associations for the development of the Russian Imperial Navy is of interest to historians. The homing p ... igeons of the Novorossiysk Society were intended for use by the navy during wartime. To analyze the activities of the Novorossiysk Society of Homing Pigeon Sports, a historical-systematic method is used to reveal the interaction between the sports association and the Russian Imperial Navy in the training and use of homing pigeons as a means of communication. Using specific historical material, the author examines the emergence of homing pigeon sports in the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. The Novorossiysk Society of Homing Pigeon Sports attracted not only individual military and naval officers but also military units with their own active dovecotes. The Honorary Chairman of the Novorossiysk Society, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, successfully used homing pigeons to establish communications from the open sea to the shore. Despite the subsequent development of wireless telegraphy and its widespread use on ships, even during World War I, homing pigeons continued to be used on ships in emergency situations to warn coastal fortresses of danger.
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This article systematizes and classifies for the first time the reactions of Orthodox Christians and adherents of Christian sects to the anti-religious activities of Soviet atheists in the 1920s and 1930s. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that, in the current context of the growing role ... of religious factors in the modern world, research on the reactions of followers of a particular religion to dramatic changes in socio-political conditions, which, in turn, directly impact the possibility and comfort of openly practicing religious beliefs and observing established religious rituals, is becoming increasingly important. A study of archival materials, published sources, and scholarly literature revealed that the reactions of Orthodox Christians and adherents of Christian sects to the anti-religious activities of Soviet atheists took a variety of forms, ranging from a hidden reaction caused by discontent among believers to mass local protests sparked by some resonant event in the anti-religious life of a particular administrative-territorial unit. The anti-religious policies pursued in the USSR were the cause of many family conflicts and the rise of anti-Semitic and anti-Soviet sentiments among the Orthodox community. Overall, the reactions of Orthodox Christians and adherents of Christian sects to the anti-religious activities of Soviet atheists in the 1920s and 1930s can be divided into active and passive.
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The topic of assessing the assistance provided to the USSR during the Great Patriotic War by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition is an urgent scientific task. The article analyzes the role of the Caspian Transport Corridor in 1941–1945. This was one of the routes along which lend-lease cargo ... was delivered to the USSR. The Caspian Transport Corridor was part of the Persian (Trans-Iranian, Southern) route connecting Iranian ports with the Soviet ports of Astrakhan, Guryev, and Makhachkala. This route acquired particular importance in the summer of 1942 when the railways connecting the Caucasus with the European part of Russia were cut by the enemy. The Caspian Sea route became the most important waterway through which not only cargo from the allies was delivered but also oil, weapons, food, medicine, and the evacuation of people were carried out. The USSR government took active measures to protect Caspian communications. The forces of the Caspian military flotilla ensured the safety of maritime transport including the protection of the Astrakhan sea roadstead where cargo was transferred from sea vessels to river vessels. A transport blockade of the Caspian by the enemy would have paralyzed the supply of the front and rear which would have led to a catastrophe since oil and lend-lease supplies coming through the Caspian corridor were vital for the country's military industry.
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The Great Patriotic War necessitated the active development of civil defense systems in major cities of the USSR, but the organization of local air defense in Stalingrad is still an insufficiently studied topic. The relevance of the topic is due to the historical significance of the city as a strate ... gic object, as well as the lack of specialized research analyzing the experience of the Moscow Military District for modern protection of the population. The purpose of this work is to identify the features of the organization and functioning of the MPVO system in Stalingrad in the pre–war years and the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, taking into account regional and administrative factors. The study used recently declassified archival materials from the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Volgograd Region (F. “Local Air Defense”), as well as published documents and sources. The results showed that at the beginning of the war, Stalingrad, which received the status of an MPVO point, became the center of concentration of infrastructure, which determined its security. An analysis of the sources revealed key aspects: the organization of district divisions of the MPVO, the training of residents, and the creation of crevices and shelters, taking into account local building features. Based on documentary sources, the network of public utilities providing water supply, sewerage, energy and communications in the face of air attacks was reconstructed. It was established that the MPVO functioned effectively due to interaction with industry (80 % of shelters were located at enterprises) and the mobilization of labor resources. The shortcomings of the MPO system have been identified. The article reflects the complex mechanism of adaptation of centralized IPO directives to local conditions and expands the understanding of the relationship between the industrial base, infrastructure and organizational solutions in providing IPO.
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The relevance of studying the economic policy of the Nazi occupiers in the North-West RSFSR stems from the need for a systematic analysis of exploitation mechanisms that served as instruments not only of economic plunder but also of the deliberate destruction of the civilian population. The aim of t ... his work is to comprehensively examine the structure, implementation methods, and socio-economic consequences of the occupation's economic policy as an integrated system. The research is based on previously unpublished archival materials, including organizational and administrative documents of the occupation administrations, reports from labor exchanges and tax authorities, and statistical data on supply norms and prices. The application of a systems approach, comparative-historical analysis, and structural-functional analysis has revealed the interconnections among all elements of economic exploitation. The scholarly novelty of the work is defined by the introduction of new archival documents into academic discourse and a comprehensive analysis of economic policy as a system whose components collectively served the strategic objectives of the Third Reich. The study establishes that key elements of the occupation policy – the system of forced labor through labor exchanges, the deliberate creation of famine, an extensive taxation system, and the suppression of market practices – formed a cohesive mechanism of total exploitation. It is proven that the economic policy was subordinated not only to the utilitarian tasks of supplying the Wehrmacht but also to implementing the misanthropic tenets of Nazi ideology. A dialectical relationship between the brutality of economic terror and the growth of resistance has been identified: the mass impoverishment of the population and systematic looting acted as a catalyst for the partisan movement.
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The critical importance of ensuring technological sovereignty for the Russian Federation dictates the need to develop an accurate, scientifically sound, state scientific and technical policy based on the accumulation of all positive historical experience. The purpose of the publication is to study t ... he problem of attempts to develop an optimal strategy for accelerating the scientific and technical development of the USSR at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. The novelty of the study is determined by the study of aspects of the problem that have not been previously considered in the scientific literature, as well as the introduction into scientific circulation of documents from the collection of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the Russian State Archive of Modern History that have been declassified to date. The basic theory in the course of the study was the theory of modernization; the most important principles were the principles of historicism, objectivity and reliability. The reasons that determined the need to reorganize the management system of the scientific and technical sphere, search for new effective mechanisms capable of activating innovation processes were identified. The conclusion is formulated that the incoming information about the progressive technological backwardness of the USSR in a number of key industries forced the authorities to carry out various types of reorganizations, adjust plans, redistribute funds, but the expected long-term results and overcoming negative trends could not be achieved. The following were identified as the reasons: adherence to previous approaches, crisis of economic science, lobbying of departmental interests, often – incompetence of managers, and their confidence that the growing resource potential will ensure technological renewal. As a result, instead of large-scale radical measures, private ones were taken, which did little to stimulate the production of new modern equipment, modernization of production. The economic reforms that had been initiated were curtailed.
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In the 1980s, the Astrakhan region was one of the key centers of the Soviet Union’s fishing industry. However, harsh and often unsafe working conditions, the seasonal nature of employment, shortages in medical services, and insufficient sanitary supervision contributed to rising morbidity among indu ... stry workers. This study, based on materials from the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region and sectoral statistical reports, examines working conditions, medical care, and the structure of morbidity among workers in the regional fishing industry. During the Soviet period, access to data on occupational morbidity and the health status of labor collectives was significantly restricted. The article introduces for the first time archival documents and data reflecting the activities of healthcare institutions, trade unions, and party bodies in ensuring sanitary-hygienic control and medical services at fishing industry enterprises. Particular attention is paid to the impact of production factors, the level of mechanization, and socio-living conditions on workers’ health. The findings reveal that, despite certain achievements in organizing preventive and medical care, the industry continued to exhibit high rates of temporary disability and occupational diseases, which indicates systemic problems in ensuring occupational health and safety under the Soviet economy of its final decades.
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The article presents the author's concept of communicative legitimacy of power, formulated on the basis of a synthesis of classical and modern theories of legitimacy. The relevance of the study is caused by changes in public policy in a digital society, in which trust in power increasingly depends o ... n effective communication. The purpose of the study is to conceptualize communicative legitimacy as a dynamic process that ensures recognition of power through dialogue, exchange of meanings and mutual trust. To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks should be solved: classical approaches (M. Weber, D. Easton, J. Rawls) and modern paradigms (cybernetic theory of K. Deutsch, poststructuralism of M. Foucault and P. Bourdieu, systemic functionalism of N. Luhmann, theory of communicative action of J. Habermas, theories of network society of M. Castells, social constructivism of P. Berger and T. Luckmann, cultural sociology of D. Alexander) are analyzed; their contribution to the concept of legitimacy is determined; a synthesis of approaches for formulating the concept of communicative legitimacy is carried out. The methodology is presented by a comparative approach that combines the ideas of different scientific schools and includes the principles of systemic, discursive and cultural-sociological analysis. The result of the study is the definition of the communicative legitimacy of power, which is defined not as a static property, but as a process of forming public consensus through communication. The culmination of the work is the presentation of the author's five-level concept of communicative legitimacy as a result of the synthesis of approaches to the interpretation of legitimacy by eleven authors. The new concept is designed to explain the stability of power through continuous dialogue with citizens in the context of modern challenges (digitalization, pandemics and other global crises), and therefore, can serve as a basis for further research on the issues of legitimation.
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In the context of declining youth trust in public institutions and increasing political disengagement, the issue of attracting young professionals to local self-government bodies becomes particularly pressing. Young people, possessing high innovative potential and adaptability, can play a significan ... t role in the modernization of municipal governance. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the motivational factors influencing young people's choice of municipal service as a professional career path. The empirical basis of the research comprises the results of a socфiological survey conducted among students of Altai State University enrolled in the programs “Political Science”, “Law”, “Public and Municipal Administration” and “Economics” (n = 212). The findings indicate that although there is sustained interest in municipal service among young people, it is lower compared to their preference for employment in state government bodies. Key motivational drivers include material needs, the pursuit of independence, and the possibility of combining work with education. Factors reducing the attractiveness of municipal service include low wages and weak social support. Students emphasized the demand for mentorship programs and flexible working schedules. The study highlights the importance of institutional adaptation of municipal authorities to the educational and career expectations of the younger generation.
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The significance of this study stems from the increasing scale and intensity of mass protests in Serbia between 2017 and 2025, which challenge the resilience of political institutions and the effectiveness of state governance in times of crisis. The Republic of Serbia represents an important case fo ... r analysis, as protest waves recur with notable regularity, reflecting deep-seated social and political contradictions. The aim of this article is to examine Serbia’s state policy in response to mass protest movements and to assess its effectiveness in terms of stabilizing the political system. The study employs a case study approach based on protest cycles from 2017 to 2025 and applies methods of political analysis, content analysis, and historical inquiry. The empirical basis includes international indices of democratic development (Freedom House, V-Dem), protest activity monitoring (ACLED), analytical reports of research centers, as well as works by Russian and foreign political scientists. The main findings reveal that the Serbian state has developed a “hybrid strategy” combining partial concessions, delegitimization of protests, and rhetoric of external interference. At the institutional level, this strategy ensured high regime stability, while at the social level its effectiveness proved low, as the structural causes of discontent were not addressed. Each protest wave resulted in temporary stabilization but simultaneously created new preconditions for mobilization. This highlights the short-term nature of the measures undertaken by the state and points to the risk of further legitimacy crises.
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The structural restructuring that occurs in the context of the digitalization of politics affects not only the institutional and value foundations of society, but also the processes of interaction between the state and citizens. In this case, citizens' participation in politics is no longer limited ... to traditional mechanisms and instruments, formal rules and procedures. Digital technologies provide them with additional opportunities to express and protect their personal interests, expanding the boundaries of political participation in the online sphere. In this regard, an important research issue is to identify the relationship and boundaries between traditional and digital political participation. To establish conceptual differences between the two types of participation, the author proposes to highlight specific features inherent exclusively to digital political participation (from a heterarchical decentralized structure and the absence of intermediaries in the form of political leaders, actors and institutions to an inclusive and game-like nature of participation). Based on the identified features, the author comes to the conclusion that digital political participation is a special independent type of participation carried out within the online environment and is a complex of various active and passive practices used by both individual and collective actors to attract and mobilize supporters, strengthen social ties, increase information awareness and form an agenda to influence political processes, including offline.
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The countries of Central and Eastern Europe are a trade, transport and economic “window” to other developed countries of the European continent, and also have good prerequisites for the qualitative growth of their own economy and the welfare of society, as a result of which they were chosen by China ... as one of the priority directions of modern joint foreign policy, which ensures the relevance of this study. The purpose of the article is to trace the results of the implementation of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative in the context of the relations between China and the former socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, to determine the results achieved by them. The chronological method and the method of system analysis helped to establish a direct link between the relevance of using the resources of the People's Republic of China and the improvement of the infrastructure of the studied geopolitical space through the prism of the initiative from the moment of its inception to the present. The article also examines the correlation between the formation of the member countries of the Belt and Road by attracting them to the international economy and solving the problem of China's extensive development. As a result, the geo-economic project helped to significantly optimize and improve the infrastructure of the participating countries of the initiative and create several thousand jobs on their territory, as well as increase the share of their gross domestic product and investment profitability.
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The relevance of this research is related to the need to study motivational mechanisms that determine human activity in connection with continuous changes in society. The aim of this study was to develop motivational strategies for personal growth in modern society based on the concept of motivation ... al balance. Research methods: hermeneutic methods, comparative analysis and synthesis. The concept of motivational balance is an actualization of the following conditions of existence of the subject: understanding of consciousness as a basis for organizing perfectly regulatory mechanisms, constituting motivation, synthesis of static and dynamic principle in the formation of motivation, Taking into account those mechanisms that are designed to maintain a balance between “I” (individual) and “we” (society), understanding the vital need, which is to avoid negative effects, the subject must be aware of its own internal potential. The most important condition of comfortable existence of the subject is the achievement of a motivational balance related to the formation of positive motivation, which constitutes modern strategies of personal growth and presupposes the presence of: image of the desired result; positive impinging; the ability to distance oneself from one’s own “self”; orientation towards self-actualization and development of creativity – building oneself; positive “verbal self-report”; active memory about successful implementation of past plans and designs; being a subject in an energy tone.
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The article is devoted to the study of the contribution of Russian Orientalists to the study of Sufism. The evolution of Sufism as a spiritual and cultural phenomenon of Islam in the multiethnic space of Russia has an impact on its culture, philosophy and traditional values, becoming increasingly im ... portant for its study. The relevance of the research is determined by a significant increase in the interest of domestic and foreign researchers in Sufism with its special philosophical and mystical basis, original ritual practice, and the specificity of texts with artistic value. The purpose of this article is to study and analyze research approaches in the works of prominent Russian Orientalists A. E. Krymsky and E. E. Bertels and evaluate their contribution to understanding the essence and evolution of Sufi ideas. The sources for writing the article were the analysis of the works of A. E. Krymsky and E. E. Bertels, as well as thematic collections of documents. The historiographical analysis of the scientific literature has revealed the peculiarities of the approaches of researchers who have influenced the formation of the image of Sufism, who have shown the versatility of Sufism and its importance in the world of Arabic philosophy and literature. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research on the history of philosophical thought are the fundamental conclusions and statements contained in the works of Sufi poetry and philosophy. When researching the system of views of Russian Orientalists, the author relied on historical-philosophical, historical-logical, biographical, comparative and systematic methods of analysis and was guided by general scientific principles and methods. The results of the study showed that the research of A. E. Krymsky and E. E. Bertels developed in line with the positivist science prevailing in the first half of the 20th century. The analysis of the researchers' creative biographies allows us to deepen our understanding of the peculiarities of their philosophical systems, and can also be useful in reconstructing the atmosphere of Russian intellectual life during the difficult period of the early 20th century – the middle of the 20th century. Covering in his works the history of the emergence of Sufism through the prism of philosophy, literature, and history, the versatility of Sufi teaching is revealed to us as not contradicting Orthodox Islam as a phenomenon of its cultural and spiritual development.
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The article is devoted to comparative research of Hesychasm phenomenon in its relations with Gnosticism. According to contemporary investigations, Hesychasm is regarded not only as Eastern Orthodox practice of silent pray, but as a broad late-byzantine intellectual movement, which was represented by ... Gregory Palamas and his followers such as John Cantacusenus and и Nicholas Cabasilas. This movement was consist of secular form, which described as Political Hesychasm and Laical Hesychasm. Hesychast doctrine based on ideas of eternal divine energies and of Tabor Light. It means denying early-Christian an early-byzantine concepts influenced by Gnostic dualism of principles Heaven and Earth with anti-somatic position. Author of this article based on the Roman Svetlov's concept of “Gnostic consciousness”, which characterized early-Christian thinkers. This Gnostic consciousness characterized not only heretics of II century, but also early-byzantine church writers such as Athanasius the Great, Agustin Aurelius an John Climacus. Common place of Gnostic position is ontological pessimism as denying of fallen reality, which was corrupted by sin. In this relation, Hesychasm follows to Eastern Orthodox tradition, but it has other position, which can be described as ontological optimism. Empiric material reality is not only the world of sin, but it is a space is full of invisible divine energies such as Tabor Light from synoptic Gospels. According to first Hesychast document “Hagioritic tomos”, way of salvation doesn't mean ascetic killing the flesh and the emotional soul, but it mean transformation of the flesh through Divine Light. Late-byzantine Hesychasm has a great influence on old-Russian culture since 14th century, so Russian iconography of XV century illustrate the new understanding of The Last Judgment, which mean transformation of world, but not destruction.
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The purpose of the article is the need to comprehend the perception of death in G. Hesse's novel “The Game of Beads” and the works of L. N. Tolstoy, the story “Three Deaths” and the novel “War and Peace”. The images of the Magician (“The Game of Beads”), Matreshka and Fedor (“Three Deaths”), as well ... as Platon Karataev (“War and Peace”) are taken for analysis. The necessity to review the philosophical and anthropological perspectives of the thanatology of the selected authors is substantiated and a number of significant conclusions are drawn. Firstly, both writers were significantly influenced by the philosophy of Lao Tzu. At different periods of their lives, both thinkers turned to one of the main sources of Taoist philosophy, the Tao te Ching. Secondly, the perception of death of the chosen thinkers largely overlaps with each other, namely: both Tolstoy and Hesse perceive a person as part of something larger, therefore, dying, he continues to live in other people. The possibility of this succession is largely due to the need and opportunity for a person to pass on wisdom and innermost things to those who will remain after him. Due to the fact that a person passes on the most important things to others, his death does not become a catastrophe, it is rather commonplace and not significant on a global scale. Human death is not a tragedy, but just a part of the natural course of things. In addition, the importance of the unity of man and nature is noted, and hence the perception of death as a primarily natural process. The main methods used in this study are textual, philosophical-anthropological and comparative analyses.
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This article analyzes the concept of the future within the traditional Buddhist worldview. It examines the philosophical, ethical, and cosmological aspects of the Buddhist understanding of the future. Particular attention is paid to the teachings of karma, the cyclical nature of existence, the socio ... historical process, and the idea of nirvana as the ultimate goal of the spiritual path. It is shown that the image of the future in the Buddhist worldview differs from the linearly progressive models characteristic of Western philosophy and theology. It is built on the principles of cyclicality, ethical causality, and transcendental liberation. In Buddhism, the future is not a predetermined fate, but a field of action shaped by karma and conscious choice. It encompasses both the potential for suffering in the endless rebirths of samsara and the possibility of transcending time through the attainment of nirvana. According to Buddhism, each future birth is determined by the karmic potential accumulated in previous lives. Buddhism does not view samsara as a punishment, but as a consequence of an unenlightened state of consciousness. The future, therefore, includes not only the possibility of suffering but also the potential for spiritual growth. The Buddhist view of the future combines profound ontological reflection and practical ethics. It offers an alternative model of temporal reality in which the future is not given, but created in every moment of conscious life. This view remains relevant in contemporary discussions of free will, responsibility, and the meaning of human existence.
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Cultural elitology is one of the most obscure areas of general elitology, as it studies the codes of creative activity of outstanding personalities who have left a significant mark on the cultural history of humanity. Passionate upsurges are experienced not only by ethnic groups (according to L.N. G ... umilev), but also by cultures of individual historical eras. These upsurges are associated with specific historical personalities, the creators of new cultural values. Cultural passionarity is associated with the activity and qualitative effectiveness of creative personalities. It is determined by the successes and failures of their activities, the search for new qualities and new values, and the realisation of their creative merits. The goal is to clarify the subject matter of cultural elitology through the analysis of such a concept as “passionarity of the spirit”. To achieve this goal, a set of methods traditional for cultural elitology is used: dialectics + hermeneutics + comparativistics + semiotics. Creativity shapes personality, giving it meaning in life. Many great cultural figures have sought to find the answer to the question of what creativity is as the meaning of existence. They viewed creativity as a search for the meaning of existence. Reconstructing this search allows us to come closer to unravelling the mysteries of creativity and to derive certain general principles and patterns. In the long term, the aim is to establish a certain algorithm that can be used for elitological engineering to form the professional foundations of creatively gifted individuals.
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M. M. Yanglyaeva’s monograph explores the media-geographical approach potential in the applied political science research which aims to the effectively identify of the information threats in their various forms generated by the cross-border Internet communications, the digitalization of all areas of ... the social reality, and the mediatization of the political world. This approach combined with the statistical methods for processing big data arrays extracted from the World Wide Web and their verification allows us to study the mental fields formed under the global media influence. The concepts of mental landscape and mental relief which characterize the state, the heterogeneity and the dynamics of the public consciousness that reflecting the political phenomena and processes, are introduced into scientific circulation for a detailed study of mental in the political science context. Specific examples of the mental political fields’ construction are considered in the real time. The author is demonstrating the possibility of the political-media-geographical approach using to analyze the information environment, the regional separatism potential identify, and the modern system of political meanings study. The monograph contains diagrams, graphs, tables and other visual materials revealing the results of the author’s research and is of undoubted interest to both the specialists and the university students.
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The article analyzes the publication “The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 in the Letters and Memoirs of the Residents of the Kuibyshev Region: a historical and documentary album dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945”, which was published in 2025 through the efforts of Sam ... ara historians and archivists. The relevance of the album and its significance for the development of Russian commemorative practices and historical anthropology are emphasized. The structure of the collection, organized according to a thematic principle and comprising a welcome address, introduction, 3 sections, and appendices, is examined. Particular attention is given to the specific and institutional attribution of the materials, many of which are published for the first time. The informational and navigational merits of the publication are noted. The key advantages of the project, which are significant for historical education, include the high scientific and archaeographic level of the materials and their printing, as well as their accessibility. It is noted that the proposed corpus of sources goes beyond the scope outlined in the title, allowing for the exploration of the specifics of frontline daily life, the language of the era, and the emotional state of the war participants. The qualitative and quantitative parameters of the album indicate its potential demand among a broad audience for scientific, educational, enlightenment and exhibition purposes.
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