Russian company towns and the challenges found within them are strikingly similar to many American communities, including Silver City, according to Western New Mexico University professor Dr. Allison Evans.
A student of Russian history, Evans is a professor of political science who has travelled to Russia seven times and is working on a book titled Protests in the Provinces: Coming to terms with Capitalism in Russian company towns. Her last visit was in in June for research on her book where she plans to focus on four or five Russian cities.
“It is estimated that there are about 300 company towns in Russia,” said Evans. “They are a mix of towns run by private companies and government entities such as the defense industry.”
The towns in Evans’ research were selected based on demographics, political, and economic criteria with a population of 300,000 people.
“There are parallels with Silver City and other company towns, such as Detroit, that are facing tough economic times,” said Evans. “When an economic depression strikes or resources have been extracted, such as mining and oil, company towns and their populations are uniquely vulnerable.”
While economic diversification can alleviate this kind of social strain, Evans’ research has found that there is often political pressure to prevent this kind of change.
“It is quite common for economic elites and managers from the primary industry to be active in local governance and politics,” said Evans.
In November, Evans will be presenting a chapter from her book at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEES) in Washington, D.C. The conference will include a panel of leading experts on Russian issues including company towns.
Evans will continue to research the subject as she travels to Russia each summer to collect data on her selected cities and to return to the country for which she has studied since 2002 as a study abroad student.
“There has been very little research on the subject,” said Evans. “Because I study a combination of local protest, company towns, economic and political reforms and elite strategies, there is research that focuses on one or two of those themes, but rarely all of them.”