The Processes of Modernization in the Russian Regions of the Circumpolar Zone: Possibilities and Limitations

Abstract

The authors of the present work studied the socio-economic and technological development of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The object of analysis is the process of modernization, acting as a mechanism for the transition from traditional to modern society. Theoretical and methodological basis for the consideration of the modernization process is the concept and methodology of Chinese researcher He Chuanqi (China Center for Modernization Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences). Modernization is considered in its historical perspective. It is presented as a series of primary and secondary upgrading or modernizing integrated as an alternative for the countries and regions of the catching-up development. The authors demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of the socio-economic development of regions of the Russian Arctic zone. It is shown that the processes of modernization lags behind the national average rates in the Arctic regions. Their characteristic is the superiority of the social component on the other, as in Russia on average. The authors studied the basic contradiction of the moment. Its essence lies in the fact that the regions of Russia, most successfully developing in socio-economic and socio-cultural spaces at the same time are not those in the space of modernization changes. The authors carried out a detailed comparative analysis of the processes of modernization in the Murmansk region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the Nenets Autonomous District, the Arkhangelsk region in the Russian and global contexts. The state program of development of the Russian Arctic, currently being implemented, had an impact on the dynamics of development, but the qualitative transition to a different development path has not happened yet. The paper shows a deadlock on energy resources and development options. The slow pace of modernization contribute to widening the gap with developed countries. Regions remain in the paradigm of resource economics. It does not allow them to implement the transition to a new, innovative type of development.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s4p264