The group for study of socio-political history was formed as a separate research division stemmed from the sector of “History of the Far East in 1950s – 1980s.” led by Prof.( Dr.Sc.) A.P. Derevyanko. In 1995 the Center for the Study of Social History and Policy was organized headed by A.S.Vaschuk. The original staff of this Center consisted of the following members: A.S. Borchaninova, A.S. Vaschuk, E..N. Chernolutskaya, N.V.Shinkovskaya, E.V.Vasilyeva, S.A.Vlasov.
In 2003 the Center was transformed into the Department of Social and Political studies.
At present the staff of the department is as the following:
- Angelina S.Vaschuk (Dr.Sc.) Lead Researcher, Head of Departament (
Curriculum vitæ) - Elena N.Chernolutskaya (Dr.Sc.) Lead Researcher (Curriculum vitæ)
- Svetlana G.Kovalenko (Cand. sc.) Research fellow ( Curriculum vitæ)
- Yulia N.Kovalevskaya (Cand. sc.) Senior research fellow (Curriculum vitæ)
- Elena S.Volkova (Cand. sc.), Research fellow (Curriculum vitæ)
- Grigoriy S.Klimenko Laboratory assistant
- Natalia V.Zarovneva Laboratory assistant
- Elena V. Karelova Laboratory assistant
- Nilolay S. Vorontsov (Cand. sc.) Research fellow
- Svetlana G.Kovalenko (Cand. sc.) Senior research fellow
During the span of the past 15 years the staff published 7 monographs , 4 collections of scientific issues, more than 200 articles for scientific magazines on such actual aspects of the history of the Far East in the XX-XXI centuries as: historical dynamics of relations between the authorities and society, social policy and its implementation in the region, migration processes, socio-political life, the system of governance, etc. The most significant collective monographs were written by A.S.Vaschuk , E.N.Chernolutskaya, V.A.Koroleva,G.B. Dudchenko,L.A.Gerasimova titled “ Ethno-migration processes in the Primorye territory in the XX century.” Vladivostok, IHAE, RAS, FEB, 2002. The monograph comprises the following aspects:
- historical stages of ethno-migration processes in the region during the span for more than 100 years.
- ethnic groups, size, migration turnover of ethnic groups within certain periods of time
- forces driving for migration, advantages and disadvantages of the Far Eastern territories for ethnic migrants.
- state migration policy towards ethnic migrants conducted by Russia and the neighboring countries ( China, Korea and Japan) , as well as the near abroad.
- processes of social, cultural and economic adaptation of migrants in Primorye, the level of their psychological conditions and welfare, the tension between ethnic groups in the region, the reasons and ways to tackle them.
- the peculiarities of contemporary ethno- migration processes in Primorye and their influence on the political-economic and socio-demographic situation in the region.
The next edition titled “Peace after the War: Far-Eastern Society in the 1945s- 1950s”, Vladivostok, “Dalnauka”,2009.
It was the first time, when comprehensive exploration of the problems of Far-Eastern society during transitional period from the war to peaceful life in the 1950s, had been carried out. The monograph comprises the following aspects:
- outward and inward factors of political and economical changes in the social life of the region
- the peculiarities of demographic development of the region, taking into account the post-war birth rate, voluntary and forced migrations, the formation of specific population in Magadan region ( Dalstroi) and as well as newly annexed areas of southern Sakhalin and the Kuril islands
- the role of everyday conditions in shaping the lifestyle of various social groups, including mobile ones, repatriates, urban and rural populations, settlers
- geopolitical factors, socio-political situation , formal and informal communication
- conduct of fiscal policy of the state in the region in the context of the distributive social relations.
- the state of spiritual environment of Far Eastern society in the light of ideology, education, science, religion and culture
- criminal situation
International scientific cooperation
The staff of the department took part in the international conferences with their reports in Moscow, Osaka, Changchun, Toyama, Harbin, Melbourne, Seoul, Seattle, etc. They are collaborating with the staff of the Institute of Migration and foreign Koreans (the Republic of Korea) and the Institute of Humanities and Social Studies ( the Republic of Korea) on the matters of Korean immigration into the Far East of Russia . Two joint scientific conferences were held in Vladivostok organized by both sides, they published collateral research papers. In 2009, they arranged a Russian-Korean expedition to Primorsky Region titled “Migration of the Koreans to Primorsky region in the second half of XIX – early XXI centuries“ supported by the “ Fund of Northeast Asia Studies “ (the Republic of Korea, Seoul)