Issue ? 36. February 2013

The Role of the State in the Transformation of Social Institutes in the 1990s: From Paternalism To Escapism (on the Example of Timber Industry of Republic of Karelia)

Ph.D., associate professor, Petrozavodsk State University.
E-mail: olkulagin@yandex.ru

This article is a continuation of author’s research in the sphere of modernizations of timber industry of Karelia in the XX century. This article is devoted to the analysis of the State’s role in post-Soviet transformation of social institutes important for modernization of timber industry, such as the institute of ownership of timber resources or labor relations. Research of these transformations, which were realized in the process of market reforms in timber industry of Republic of Karelia during the 1990s on the base of adoption of Western modernization mechanisms revealed ambiguous role of the State in this process. The policy of tough Soviet paternalism was changed by the policy which could be interpreted like escapism of the State, expressed in a deliberate escape from decision-making on the basic problems of modernization — creation and structuring of a new institutional environment.

Keywords

Social institutes, timber industry paternalism, escapism, modernization.