A new article by Ekaterina Boltunova in the journal "Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie"

A new article “A Regional History of Russia: The Research Field and Archival Practices (1990s — early 2020s)” by the Laboratory Head Ekaterina Boltunova was published in the sixth issue of the journal "Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie" for 2022.

Abstract:
This article examines the current state of the study of the history of Russia’s regions. The author analyes academic literature on the history of Russian regions that has appeared in the last two decades in English and in Russian. Trends that have developed in this research field are highlighted (the persistent correlation of a region with its ethnic and religious makeup, the rare use of comparisons, etc.) The article gives an overview of the literature in relation to the study of Central Russia and concludes that this territory has not been studied as a macroregion. The author also analyzes Russian practices of working with archives, pointing out the need to create search engines that can process large databases, including the development of automated system for navigating handwritten texts.

Full text (in Russian) of the article is available here.