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Mikhail Alekseevsky
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Alekseevsky, M. (2019). The Blooming Diversity of Applied Anthropologies: A Guest Editorial // Urban Folklore & Anthropology. Vol. 3-4, pp. 9-13. The guest editor of the volume briefly describes how applied anthropology changed in... more
Alekseevsky, M. (2019). The Blooming Diversity of Applied Anthropologies: A Guest Editorial // Urban Folklore & Anthropology. Vol. 3-4, pp. 9-13.

The guest editor of the volume briefly describes how applied anthropology changed in Russia at the turn of the 2010-2020s and presents the papers of the journal.
The publication presents a collection of oral narratives of former employees of the Moscow power plant GES-2 about its history and professional everyday life. GES-2 is the one of the oldest power stations in Moscow. It is located in the... more
The publication presents a collection of oral narratives of former employees of the Moscow power plant GES-2 about its history and professional everyday life. GES-2 is the one of the oldest power stations in Moscow. It is located in the city center on the Bolotny Island and stopped working in 2016. A cultural space of the same name will be created in the building upon a reconstruction. In-depth interviews with former employees of the now shut-down station were taken in 2016–2017 as a part of applied anthropological research commissioned by the V-A-C Foundation engaged in creating the GES-2 cultural space. Oral narratives recorded during the project dwell on the history of the GES-2, the professional daily life of the power plant employees, professional traditions and folklore. These materials was included in the new archive of the GES-2 cultural space and should become a source of inspiration for contemporary artists who want to work with local identity and memory of the place in their art.

В публикации представлена коллекция устных нарративов бывших работников
московской электростанции ГЭС-2, посвященных ее истории и профессиональной повседневности. Одна из старейших электростанций Москвы, расположенная в центре города на Болотном острове, в 2016 году прекратила свою работу. В ее здании после реконструкции было создано одноименное культурное пространство.
Глубинные интервью с бывшими сотрудниками закрытой станции были взяты в 2016–2017 годы в рамках прикладного антропологического исследования, проведенного по заказу фонда V-A-C, который занимается созданием культурного пространства ГЭС-2. Устные нарративы, записанные в рамках проекта, посвящены истории предприятия, профессиональной повседневности сотрудников электростанции, профессиональным традициям и фольклору. Эти материалы вошли в новый архив культурного пространства ГЭС-2 и должны стать источником вдохновения для современных художников, которые в своем творчестве захотят поработать с локальной идентичностью и памятью места.
Applied urban anthropology in Russia is still in its youth, but is developing rapidly. A few years ago the very idea of commercial anthropology was doubted by many, although even before 2012 anthropological research ordered by business... more
Applied urban anthropology in Russia is still in its youth, but is developing rapidly. A few years ago the very idea of commercial anthropology was doubted by many, although even before 2012 anthropological research ordered by business customers had been conducted in Russia and applied anthropology began to become institutionalized soon. The author draws on his personal experience of a 5 years’ career of a corporative urban anthropologist in Strelka KB, a Russian urban consulting company, and dwells upon the peculiarities of uneasy relationships between anthropologists and commercial and state customers, as well as upon communication difficulties between anthropologists and architects. E.g., the papers unfolds upon research conducted in 2012: a long-distance contract with a French company concerning a research upon banquets that was required to draft an adequate promotion strategy for a new slow-cooker, and a joint research upon urban space of Tikhvin town (Leningrad region) for Strelka that had been working upon an urban land improvement project. This essay is the first in a planned series of applied research case reports that are going to be published in the following issues of the journal.
The author makes a general survey of the situation with applied anthropological studies in contemporary Russia.
В статье рассматриваются стратегии и практики культурного потребления молодых жителей Санкт-Петербурга. На материале проведенных в рамках исследования экспертных интервью и глубинных интервью с представителями различных групп активных... more
В статье рассматриваются стратегии и практики культурного потребления молодых жителей Санкт-Петербурга. На материале проведенных в рамках исследования экспертных интервью и глубинных интервью с представителями различных групп активных молодых петербуржцев были выявлены особенности запросов целевой аудитории и выстраивания траекторий культурного потребления. Они связаны со значимостью горизонтальных социальных связей как источника информации о культурных событиях, ценностью свободной траектории культурного потребления (свободой перемещения по объекту культуры, выбора темпа потребления, гибкости и комфортности пространства, нацеленности на сопроизводство культуры, а не пассивную позицию зрителя), предсказуемостью программы, а также возможностями перенастройки социальных связей в процессе потребления культуры. Мы показываем, что потребление культуры в Петербурге встроено в повседневные процессы, и именно поэтому зависимо от траекторий транспортной мобильности горожан: культура оказывается сконцентрирована в т. н. «золотом треугольнике» центра города (хотя имеется запрос на районные культурные события и точки притяжения), но при этом средовой фактор центра ограничивает диапазон повестки, считающейся допустимой в этом пространстве.
Михаил Алексеевский, Варвара Беленко. Что может дать мастер-план в процессе коммуникации между горожанами и властью? // Стратегический мастер-план: инструмент управления будущим (Исследование к IV Московскому урбанистическому форуму). М.,... more
Михаил Алексеевский, Варвара Беленко. Что может дать мастер-план в процессе коммуникации между горожанами и властью? // Стратегический мастер-план: инструмент управления будущим (Исследование к IV Московскому урбанистическому форуму). М., 2014. С. 418-443.

Global practices show that a strategic master plan is important not only for its significance in being a tangible and visible statement, but because of the consensus reached between the government and the public. In Russia citizens participate in the strategic planning process only in its preliminary stage at public hearings, when the document is formed and crucial amendments are not possible. In fact there is an understanding of this between both parties, which is proven by the number of irrelevant public comments to the document. Unlike in most other Russian cities, the authorities in Moscow have placed communication among its seven priorities. To this end, tools such as crowdsourcing, digital voting, information and interactive portals have been recently introduced. This chapter offers a communication model for the development of the strategic master plan, which is based on both international practices and existing tools used by the Moscow government. The basic principles of the model include mutual communication at all stages of the document’s development and implementation, as well as an individualized approach to communicating with different social strata through a wide variety of initiatives.
"The work is a pilot publication of separate entries from the prepared «The Dictionary of local text of Mogilev-Podolsky». The introduction sums up the history of studying local text in the Russian tradition, introduces the dictionary... more
"The work is a pilot publication of separate entries from the prepared «The Dictionary of local text of Mogilev-Podolsky». The introduction sums up the history of studying local text in the Russian tradition, introduces the dictionary conception and describes its structure. A separate section is devoted to the specificity of local text of Mogilev-Podolsky, a small Ukrainian town on the border with Moldova. Entries are taken from sections «Symbols of identity» (Cesspit), «Loci and toponyms» (119-th microdistrict), "Events" (Rumor about a break of the dam), "Persons" (Yasha Krasnopolsky), «Communities and institutes» (the Kirov Plant, the Blue Danube).


Keywords: local text, urban culture, space, dictionary, Ukraine, Mogilev-Podolsky, urban anthropology, Ukranians, Jews, expedition, urban folklore, legends, rumors, interethnic interactions, stereotypes, microdistricts, customs, border, local identity, loci, toponymics, symbols of identity
"
Research Interests:
The expansion of Moscow's boundaries in 2012 was a significant event not only for Russia. It resulted in the inclusion of the southwestern sector of Moscow Region into the city's territory, which is the first step in creating the Moscow... more
The expansion of Moscow's boundaries in 2012 was a significant event not only for Russia. It resulted in the inclusion of the southwestern sector of Moscow Region into the city's territory, which is the first step in creating the Moscow agglomeration. At the time of its transfer to the city, the territory of the New Moscow was 140 thousand hectares. Its population was 235 thousand. The Moscow Government expects that by 2035 the attached territories will have 1.5 million residents and more than 1 million jobs.
This study examines how present inhabitants of the area react  to the process of urbanisation and how they imagine the future of the New Moscow.  The author used online research
technique netnography for providing discussions on local Internet message boards. The findings indicate that New Muscovites approve current transformations of the area but have strong concerns about ecological and transport problems of their districts.
The article is based on the material of field interviews, which was conducted in Kaluga in 2012. The author examines the influence of migrant professionals from Europe on social and cultural life of the city.
The author uses field interviews, which was conducted in Baikalsk (Irkutsk region) in 2013, and examines how discussions about ecological problems in the town had influenced the strategy of it's modernization. Key words: urban... more
The author uses field interviews, which was conducted in Baikalsk (Irkutsk region) in 2013, and examines how discussions about ecological problems in the town had influenced the strategy of it's modernization.
Key words: urban anthropology, chemical industry, ecology.
In Russia demonstrations against the outcome of election for the State Duma in December, 2011 became the most mass street political action since Perestroika. However forms of protest were very unusual, for example many protestors brought... more
In Russia demonstrations against the outcome of election for the State Duma in December, 2011 became the most mass street political action since Perestroika. However forms of protest were very unusual, for example many protestors brought to the demonstrations homemade funny placards with absurd slogans. The author of the paper compares placards of Moscow demonstrations with agitation placards of similar street political actions (student demonstrations in Serbia in 1996-1997, Orange Revolution in Ukraine, civil-rights movement «Occupy Wall Street») and analyzes social structure of protestors with placards. The result of field research shows that the most active persons with placards are not students, but highly educated middle-aged specialists who want to make a political protest in ironic form.
Статья посвящена советским праздникам в деревне. Статья написана по полевым материалам экспедиций в Карелию и Мурманскую область в 2000-е годы
This time the Editorial Board did not use a detailed questionnaire, but instead asked participants 1. to comment on the state of urban studies in their particular discipline, and 2. to identify what they saw as the most pressing... more
This time the Editorial Board did not use
a detailed questionnaire, but instead asked
participants 1. to comment on the state of urban
studies in their particular discipline, and 2. to
identify what they saw as the most pressing issues
for further study. The comments that resulted
are published in this section.
Many researchers of Russian laments observe that different regions of Russia vary in the degree to which the traditions of performing ritual laments are developed. To the greatest degree this tradition is developed in the Russian North,... more
Many researchers of Russian laments observe that different regions of Russia vary in the degree to which the traditions of performing ritual laments are developed. To the greatest degree this tradition is developed in the Russian North, where in the XIX century the most elaborate forms of folk epic poetry (bylinas, historical songs) are found. Nowadays tradition of performing ritual laments in the Russian North is in decline. Russian peasants ceased to perform wedding and recruit laments in the middle of the XX century; however funeral laments are still being performed in many areas. At the same time, most contemporary peasant women in Russia are not able to perform any ritual laments. They just observe how they are being performed by older women, who are considered to be the rural experts on traditional customs and rituals.
        In 2001 the author of the report started special field research, collecting and studying funeral laments in the Russian North. In 2004 he created the special field questionnaire on the issue and used it in his research. Field-work recordings of funeral laments were collected in 2001-2007 in Kargopol and Nyandoma districts of Arkhangelsk region, in Pudozh and Medvezhegorsk districts of the Karelia Republic, in Vytegorsk district of Vologda region.
        By collecting data, the author aspired not only to record the texts of laments, but also to elucidate the context of its performing in contemporary rituals. The field-work recordings demonstrate that few women are able to perform ritual laments, but nearly every peasant in the Russian North took part in ritual of mourning as an observer. Peasants' narratives about performing laments can be consider a valuable material for exploring a contemporary tradition. On the base of these recordings the author of the report analyzes the mechanism of lament tradition's dissociation in the Russian North, which appears to be more complex than assumed.
    The researchers who study the fading of traditional folklore genres observe that, traditionally, the ritual text first lose s its meaning but saves its form. People continue to perform the text, but cannot understand its meaning. Then the text disappears and people stop performing it altogether. Lament tradition's dissociation develops in a different way. The meaning of funeral laments remains important and clear for peasants. It is quite natural, considering the importance of the questions of death and posthumous existence for any person. At the same time, the archaic form of traditional funeral lament begins to dissociate.
      On the one hand, the funeral lament can be replaced with prose monologues that addressed to the dead man.  Such monologue s and folk funeral lament have the same meaning, but the form is different. On the other hand, traditional funeral laments are undergoing "secondary mythologization" (in S.S. Averintsev's term). Peasants who are not able to perform ritual laments by themselves start to perceive this skill as "a magic knowledge". Older women, who can perform ritual laments, are then perceived as "magical specialists" (not unlike folk healers).  Many modern peasants consider ritual laments to be sacred magical texts, which can not be performed by ordinary people. They believe an older woman who is able to lament ha s to communicate these magic texts to another woman before her death, which is a traditional way to ensure the transfer of the magic power for Russian folk healers.
    Another indication of the lament tradition's dissociation is the existence of the ritual laments in written form, which was absolutely impossible in the past, because a traditional lament is an oral improvisation that is created at the moment of performance. Nowadays some older women write down traditional laments in special writing-book where they used to write down favorite folk songs and necessary verbal charms.
    Thus, in the contemporary Russian North, the lament tradition's dissociation is continuing (while a different process, the reactualization of some other folklore genres, for example, verbal charms, also takes place). At the same time the value of laments in modern peasant culture increases. Ritual laments are being perceived not as «a vestige of the past», but as sacred texts infused with magic value.
A study of ethnic stereotypes, concerned with mental mapping of urban space, is of great importance for cultural geography of multi-ethnic regions. Stereotypic opinions concerning the place of residence of ethnic neighbors serve as a... more
A study of ethnic stereotypes, concerned with mental mapping of urban space, is of great importance for cultural geography of multi-ethnic regions. Stereotypic opinions concerning the place of residence of ethnic neighbors serve as a valuable material for the study of cross-cultural and interethnic communication in the area.
      Since the XVI century Ukrainian small towns of Podolia (Nemiryv, Tulchin, Balta, Mohilev-Podilsky) have been traditional places of residence for Jews. While all these towns were considered to be Ukrainian, Jews' activities had a great importance for the local culture. Using memories and stereotypic opinions of townsfolk we can reconstruct a mental map of a Ukrainian small town, where areas which specifically identified as Jewish have great importance.
      The paper is based on the material of field interviews, which was conducted in Mohylev-Podilsky in 2007-2008. The author examines the role of Jewish areas on mental map of the provincial Ukrainian town, analyses the difference in opinions on them among Jews and Ukrainians, considers a change in status of these areas in the XXI century, when the most of the Jewish population had left the town.
The author analyzes the new wedding rituals and ceremonies that are invented by the Registry office staff in the small town of Krasnaya Gorbatka in the Vladimir region, Russia. The creative approach to writing scenarios for wedding... more
The author  analyzes the new wedding rituals and ceremonies that are invented by the Registry office staff in the small town of Krasnaya Gorbatka in the Vladimir region, Russia. The creative approach to writing scenarios for wedding ceremonies has a strong influence on contemporary rituals in post-Soviet Russia.
The article is devoted to modern practices of collecting, storing and organizing books in the home libraries. Formation of the family home library has become widespread in the USSR in the second half of the 1970 s., at present moment,... more
The article is devoted to modern practices of collecting, storing and organizing books in the home libraries.
Formation of the family home library has become widespread in the USSR in the second half of the 1970 s.,
at present moment, according to surveys of major sociological services, about 75–80 % of Russian citizens
are at home book collections. Materials of focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted in December 2013
in the settlements of various sizes (metropolis — Moscow, the regional center — Kaluga, working village -
Berezayka Bologovsky Tver region), allow us to describe and analyze the basic principles of organizing and storing
books home libraries in representatives of different social stratas, as well as to consider the strategies used
to get rid of unwanted books in an environment where the destruction or discarding of the book is perceived
by the public as a cultural taboo.

Keywords: reading, book, home library, a collection of books, anthropology of reading.
К сожалению, бóльшая часть исследований, посвященных отечественному политическому анекдоту, базируется исключительно на советском материале. Иногда постсоветские политические анекдоты бегло рассматриваются в такого рода работах в качестве... more
К сожалению, бóльшая часть исследований, посвященных отечественному политическому анекдоту, базируется исключительно на советском материале. Иногда постсоветские политические анекдоты бегло рассматриваются в такого рода работах в качестве своеобразного дополнения, обычно занимая там маргинальное место. Отдельных исследований, посвященных современным политическим анекдотам на постсоветском пространстве, пока сравнительно немного.
Задача настоящей статьи – рассмотреть, как функционирует современный политический анекдот в России, как он создается и изменяется, кто и зачем его использует в политической борьбе, наконец, как соотносится специфика бытования современного политического анекдота со спецификой бытования анекдота вообще. Заявленная в названии статьи форма очерков позволяет не претендовать на всеобъемлющее исчерпывающее исследование традиций современного политического анекдота, а сосредоточиться на отдельных сюжетах, которые кажутся знаковыми и показательными. В связи с этим статья состоит из трех частей разного размера: в первой части кратко описываются трансформации, которые пережил отечественный анекдот за последние несколько десятилетий, во второй – на материале анекдотов о бывшем мэре Москвы Ю. М. Лужкове рассматривается механизм формирования новых анекдотических сюжетов; в третьей – излагается история создания политического пиар-проекта «Анекдоты от Зюганова», основанного на манипулировании текстами современного фольклора, анализируются отдельные тексты «зюгановских анекдотов» и раскрываются механизмы их создания.
Хочется надеяться, что все три очерка будут взаимно дополнять друг друга и в совокупности позволят читателю представить более или менее цельную картину бытования политического анекдота в современной России.
The article is devoted to the history of contextual approach in folklore studies. In the literature survey the author focuses on lively disputes about the text/context controversy between American folklorists in 1970–1980-s and analyses... more
The article is devoted to the history of contextual approach in folklore studies. In the literature survey the author focuses on lively disputes about the text/context controversy between American folklorists in 1970–1980-s and analyses attempts of theoretical reflection on the topic by modern Russian researchers.
Keywords: Internet, folkloristics, urban legends, internet-folklore, netlore, terms, theory, virtual reality, web 2.0, blogs, genres, jokes, methodology, overview
The article analyzes modern urban legends that circulate in American and Russian segments of the Internet and easily overcome cultural and language barriers. This process is considered on the basis of how American urban legends about JATO... more
The article analyzes modern urban legends that circulate in American and Russian segments of the Internet and easily overcome cultural and language barriers. This process is considered on the basis of how American urban legends about JATO car migrated into the Russian network segment. The author devotes much attention to the variance in the legends and the mechanisms of their adaptation in a new cultural environment.
"The work is devoted to the analysis of the Dead Man Revival Motif in Northern Russian funeral laments. The analysis of this widespread, steadiest motif in the context of funeral ritual pragmatics allows the author to disprove the opinion... more
"The work is devoted to the analysis of the Dead Man Revival Motif in Northern Russian funeral laments. The analysis of this widespread, steadiest motif in the context of funeral ritual pragmatics allows the author to disprove the opinion of its emotional-rhetorical character held by scholars. The author concludes that using this motivf in funeral laments is an element of verbal magic aimed at providing mutual communication between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Caling the dead man "to come to life", a weeper can tell him about her troubles, ask for help, invite to a funeral meal to cajole. At the same time this "appeal" is comprehended by the tradition as potentially dangerous, therefore, in order that the dead man to whom the weeping is addressed, don’t become a threat for the living, lament containing the motif of revival ends with the obligatory formula of the impossible, declaring impossibility of returning from the dead. 

Keywords: ritual culture, ritual folklore, laments, funeral rituals, Russian, visitor, formula of the impossible, folk magic, wedding rituals, orphan, the Russian North, ritual, dead, feast, ritual food, verbal magic, interdictions, spells"
The article is based on the material of historical evidence and contemporary field interviews about Russian funeral laments. The author examines ritual rules and taboos related to regulation of emotions in lamentation for the dead.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The publication “Ethno-cultural stereotypes of Jewish character in contemporary Latgale” by Mikhail Alekseevsky gathers texts that contain stereotypical sayings about Jewish character, and about the differences between Jews and other... more
The publication “Ethno-cultural stereotypes of Jewish character in contemporary Latgale” by Mikhail Alekseevsky gathers texts that contain stereotypical sayings about Jewish character, and about the differences between Jews and other ethnic groups from the point of view of the non-Jewish population (such as intellect, slyness etc.).
"The article analyses the transformation of the genre of the political anecdote in post-Soviet Russia. Based on material from the pre-election PR project ‘Anecdotes from Zyuganov’ (2007), the author examines how the modern political... more
"The article analyses the transformation of the genre of the political anecdote in post-Soviet Russia. Based on material from the pre-election PR project ‘Anecdotes from Zyuganov’ (2007), the author examines how the modern political anecdote functions, how it is created and is changing, who uses it in political battles and why. A comparison of Soviet and post-Soviet political anecdotes shows that this genre is maintains its opposition status, although its form is changing significantly: anecdotes are no longer told, but instead printed in newspapers and spread on the Internet. This work analyses the mechanisms for creating current political anecdotes (from adapting old texts to creating new ones) and traces the path of their spread in the media.

Keywords: modern folklore, politics, humour, political anecdotes, Zyuganov, the media, Internet, party, authority, opposition, PR, election, scandal, agitation"
... Life 17 2. Woman's Honor, or the Story with a Pig: The Animal in Everyday Life in the Eighteenth-century Russian Provinces 21 Olga E. Glagoleva 3. Treating the “Other Animals”: Russian Ethnoveterinary... more
... Life 17 2. Woman's Honor, or the Story with a Pig: The Animal in Everyday Life in the Eighteenth-century Russian Provinces 21 Olga E. Glagoleva 3. Treating the “Other Animals”: Russian Ethnoveterinary Practices in the Context of Folk Medicine 42 Mikhail Alekseevsky Part ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:

And 1 more

The book presents the results of a anthropological research project on oral narratives about past, present and future of the residential neighborhood Selma in Kaliningrad, Russia. The research was based on 43 interviews with Kaliningrad... more
The book presents the results of a anthropological research project on oral narratives about past, present and future of the residential neighborhood Selma in Kaliningrad, Russia. The research was based on 43 interviews with Kaliningrad residents (from schoolgirls to the to the mayor of the city). The book contains field materials about oral history, urban legends,  places of interest and actual problems of Selma. The authors of the study are young participants of the Workshop of urban studies organized by The Kaliningrad International Film Festival "On the Edge. West". Еhe book is intended for the residents of Selma and everyone who is interested in studies about real and mythological life of post-Soviet urban neighborhoods.

В книге собраны результаты антропологического исследования, посвященного тому, как жители Калининграда видят прошлое, настоящее и будущее спального микрорайона Сельма. Основой исследования стали 43 интервью с жителями города (от школьниц до главы города), в которых представлены устная история, городские легенды, главные достопримечательности и актуальные проблемы Сельмы. Авторами исследования являются участники подростковой Мастерской градоустройства при кинофестивале «Край света. Запад».
Для жителей Сельмы и всех, кому интересна подлинная и мифологическая
жизнь постсоветских микрорайонов.
"Мы не немы": Антропология протеста в России 2011-2012 годов - это работа коллектива антропологов, социологов, фольклористов, которые исследовали протест 2011-2012 годов. Три года спустя нам удалось опубликовать эту книгу в Тарту (вечная... more
"Мы не немы": Антропология протеста в России 2011-2012 годов - это работа коллектива антропологов, социологов, фольклористов, которые исследовали протест 2011-2012 годов. Три года спустя нам удалось опубликовать эту книгу в Тарту (вечная благодарность Эстонскому литературному музею за это!)
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Стремительное развитие новых коммуникационных технологий за последние несколько десятилетий не только радикальным образом изменило жизнь людей, но и сформировало новую медийную среду, функционирующую по своим законам и не похожую на те... more
Стремительное развитие новых коммуникационных технологий за последние несколько десятилетий не только радикальным образом изменило жизнь людей, но и сформировало новую медийную среду, функционирующую по своим законам и не похожую на те медиа, которые существовали прежде. Если на заре своего развития эти технологии воспринимались как манящая и пугающая «экзотика», то в настоящее время компьютеры, мобильные телефоны, Интернет окончательно стали неотъемлемыми элементами повседневной жизни. Чем больше людей начинают использовать Сеть для общения и повседневных нужд, тем сложнее и многограннее становится интернет-культура, динамично развивающаяся в виртуальном пространстве. Курс лекций по выбору «Интернет и фольклор» посвящен формам интернет-культуры, которые по целому ряду параметров оказываются близки к фольклору, а также современным методам их изучения.