Title: Cows and kin: innovations and issues in post-Soviet indigenous communities

Authors: Susan A. Crate

Addresses: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, David King Hall, MS 5F2, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030-4400, USA

Abstract: In the wake of communism|s fall, the majority of rural Russia|s inhabitants were left without the state farm agricultural infrastructure that fed and employed them. Most adapted by innovating to create new forms that combined pre-Soviet subsistence practices with contemporary modes. This paper explores one group|s innovation, |cows-and-kin|. Viliui Sakha, the highest latitude horse and cattle breeders in contemporary times, inhabit western Sakha, northeastern Siberia, Russia. Their cows-and-kin innovation is based on household-level cow keeping with interdependence of kin households. In addition to describing this post-soviet community-level innovation, this paper also explores relevant issues about the capacity for continued innovation such as: (1) what is the future of the cows-and-kin innovation, considering that many youth are out-migrating from the rural villages? (2) how is the cows-and-kin innovation affected by the forces of globalisation and modernity? and lastly (3) how can the cows-and-kin innovation face the challenges posed by rapid climate change?

Keywords: innovation; climate change; adaptation; Viliui Sakha; post-Soviet; Arctic indigenous peoples; indigenous culture; rural Russia; globalisation; modernity; agricultural infrastructure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2007.014761

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2007 Vol.6 No.6, pp.679 - 692

Published online: 08 Aug 2007 *

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