Churkin Mikhail K.,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Omsk State Pedagogical University, Omsk, Russia; Tobolsk Complex Research Station of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tobolsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Issues of Colonization of Siberia in the Memoir-Autobiographical Discourse of Officials of the Resettlement Department
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2020-4-5
The article is based on memoirs and autobiographical discourse of the officials of the Resettlement Department of the interior, defines the views of the local community of the Russian bureaucracy on the main objectives, contents and prospects of the colonization of the "Eastern suburbs". In the course of studying the reconstructed system of moral values, ethics and attitudes of government officials in the second half of 19th – early 20th centuries established that the basic foundations of ethics of the Resettlement Department’s officials were formed under the decisive influence of traditional practices and models of aristocratic family education. The system of value orientations of post-reform Russian bureaucracy transformed the officials’ sense of service, their understanding of duty and responsibility towards the people which under the conditions of modernization led to formation of locally-professional identity of Imperial officials being an important prerequisite for making effective decisions in the sphere of colonization. Based on personal testimonies the paper identifies the main functions of Imperial officials and experts, the situation and the factors that influenced career choices and a strategy of professional conduct. It is proved that at the turn of 19th–20th centuries in Russia a new type of Imperial officials formed while the “resettlement activities” were represented as the communicative space of discourse of colonization, in which projects of Siberia’s incorporation into the Empire were discussed and implemented. These projects took into account national, cultural and religious concerns of all categories of population in peripheral regions: immigrants, veterans, indigenous peoples.
Publishing: 29/08/2020
How to cite: Churkin M.K. The Issues of Colonization of Siberia in the Memoir-Autobiographical Discourse of Officials of the Resettlement Department // Historical Courier, 2020, No. 4 (12), pp. 57–66. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2020/ISTKURIER-2020-4-05.pdf
Links: Issue 4 2020
Keywords: memoir-autobiographical discourse; officials of the Resettlement Department; ethos; resettlement; colonization; local professional identity; Siberia