Factors of Social Resilience of Arctic Rural Communities in Modern Russia (On the Materials of Coastal and Island Territories of the Arkhangelsk Oblast)

The article focuses on the problem of factors ensuring social resilience of Arctic rural communities. Using the materials of island and coastal territories of the Primorskiy district of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the author studies how the features of social organization and life activities of specific communities ensure their reproduction as local social systems, help them to remain resilient to external challenges of economic, environmental and other types, and allow them to adapt to the changes in the region. In order to solve these problems, the author took part in a field study on the territory of 14 rural settlements in three rural municipalities in the period from July to early September 2022. The main method of obtaining empirical data is in-depth interview. The analysis of the interviews made it possible to identify a set of key factors of resilience of the rural communities under consideration. The first factor is the ability of local residents to reorient to subsistence farming and traditional crafts in the conditions of degradation of those sectors of the local economy that imply permanent formal labor employment. The second factor is the high level of social capital of communities, which determines the normalization of mutual assistance practices. The third factor is the involvement of a part of the local population in grassroots activities: social and cultural initiatives of local residents make it possible to attract external resources to solve the problems of territorial development, as well as support the collective identity of rural community members and increase its cohesion. The fourth factor is the return of retired local natives who previously migrated from rural to urban areas.