The article reflects the main approaches to the problem of adaptive potential. It featured the essence and content of the adaptive potential of modern psychology and analyzes the structural components of the adaptation potential, including neuropsychic stability, self-esteem, communicativity, psychic regulation, etc. The paper describes the features of adaptation of gifted adolescents and the structure of the adaptive potential, which is represented as a multi-level system. It is suggested that the structure of the adaptive potential of gifted adolescents includes emotional, reflexive, volitional and behavioral components. The test subjects were gifted adolescents aged 12–15, studying in specialized classes (engineering). The group included 56 people, 26 boys and 20 girls. The article describes the data of factor analysis by the method of principal components with rotation "varimax normalized". The analysis has demonstrated that the structure of the adaptive potential of gifted adolescents includes five factors explaining 57.02 % of the total variability. The results of factor analysis allow the authors to come to the conclusion that the adaptive potential of gifted adolescents includes five components: 1 and 2 components reflect the emotional component, i.e. the ability to understand how to express your feelings and feelings of others; 3 – reflexive component, i.e. ability to internal analysis of their actions and actions; 4 – behavioral component, i.e. propensity to react in a certain way to a particular situation; 5 – strong-willed component, i.e.  ability to regulate one’s emotional behavior in unusual situations.

The article represents the definition, characteristics and theoretical approaches and psychological basis to constructive fatherhood strategies development. The specifics of the constructive fatherhood strategies development are analyzed in the connection with the life experience and family conditions of the man from an early age. The paper features such components of fatherhood strategies as gender role acceptance, characteristics of the spheres of life goals and sense-bearing and that of personality maturity. It provides the results of a 12-year longitudinal study of the psychological training of responsible fatherhood. The article also represents an analysis of immediate and delayed (about ten years after the training) results of psychological courses for men with no children at the moment of the training. The conclusion is that responsible fatherhood courses for male adolescents have a positive longtime (10 years +) effects.

The matter of well-being is one of the most important theoretical and experimental areas in modern psychology. Based on the analysis of domestic and foreign researches, the author differentiates the notion of subjective and psychological well-being, reveals their interrelationship and their correlates with both objective and subjective factors. With the aim of creating a holistic multidimensional construct that would combine subjective and personal well-being in the context of unity, the author introduces the concept of "emotional-personal well-being”. The paper introduces a research methodology of self-evaluation of personal and emotional well-being (SPEW), which identifies and analyzes the psychological correlates of the phenomenon. According to the research, emotional and personal well-being components differ from each other in their specific correlations, but remain independent definitions of the "emotionally-personal well-being” constructs. However, these components form a certain homogeneous consistency. The correlation between the SPEW index and the indicators of standard psychodiagnostical techniques allows one to examine the emotional and personal well-being as an integrative, multidimensional phenomenon characterized by its inclusion in the structure of mental reality.

The research uses the method of cross sections to identify the current trends in the development of representations among schoolchildren and undergraduate students. The article is an attempt to answer the following question: what is the role of individual features of representation, certain individually changeable integral features of performance at various stages of school and university education? It features the results of the study of the integral characteristics (brightness-clearness, controllability and liveliness), taking into account age and different modalities of representation. This study reveals the contribution of each of the integral features of representation throughout the period of study by highlighting age-related peculiarities of formation of representations in pupils and students. The study has identified two distinct phases, characterized by different dynamics of representation formation, the school period and the higher education period. The first one displays the following features: a decrease in liveliness and a simultaneous increase in brightness-clearness, controllability, and ability to representations brightness-clearness. The second period shows an increase in liveliness and simultaneous decrease in brightness-clearness, controllability and ability to representations of the brightness-sharpness of representations.

The article describes the meaning and peculiarities of the procedure of detection motive of property crime, committed by minors. It features the theoretical substantiation of the use of the projective method that lies in the basis of the identification method revealing the motives of the unlawful property behavior among minors. The paper describes a complex format application of the interpretive and additive techniques of this method, which can most accurately diagnose these motives. The paper represents the results of approbation practice of the psychodiagnostic method in relation to minors, who have committed property crimes. The results showed that adolescent offenders аt the time of theft seek to meet not only mercenary needs, but also to increase self-esteem, establish themselves in society, needs for various kinds of game emotions, need for a sense of security and revenge, needs for delivering joy and helping relatives. The obtained information allows one, already at this stage, to carry out preventive work with juvenile offenders, taking into account the presence and intensity of individual motives of unlawful acts and individual needs of minors.

The current paper features an attempt at a new interpretation of the affirmation phenomena introduced by D. N. Uznadze. The author considers the process of affirmation forming as the implementation of measurement actions. The idea is that measurement actions, in addition to their direct function, also structure the background perceptual space (which is believed to shape the cognitive medium of perception images). Distortions of the measurement procedure, in one way or another, correlate with different forms of structuring the background perceptual space and with its increasing role in emotional coloring. The article describes an experiment in which the objects were not only perceived and evaluated, but also influenced the accuracy of the perception of objects, since they "control" the forms of the structuring of the background space and give it an emotional coloring. The experiment was carried out according to a procedure similar to the classical experiment conducted by D. N. Uznadze. The experiment featured an illusion of affirmation formation through the multiple presentation of circles of different diameters. We used circles of the same size, but with different versions of images inside: an emotionally colored image ("smileys"), ordered emotional ("triangles"), disordered emotionless ("chaotic points"). As a result, the emotionally colored image inside the circles caused an increase in the number of errors in the comparison of the circles, and the ordered, non-emotional image increased the accuracy of perception.

The article features an analysis of semantics, pragmatics and text-based functioning of figurative vocabulary and expressions, which are metaphorically motivated by such verbs as bite, gnaw, nibble and chew. These verbs name various activities, processes and phenomena because of their analogy to food consumption with the aid of teeth. The analysis allowed the author to describe a number of cognitive metaphorical models which, in their turn, reflect the image projection from the source-domain “Food Consumption” into the conceptual spheres of physiological, mental, psychological and social phenomena. The given system of images expresses metaphorically the concept of various processes and notions related to deformation, destruction and disappearance of material objects; destructive effects on the human body and psyche; social and moral pressure (e. g. competitive struggle, repressive political system), loss of physical resources and values. The pragmatic potential of the image-bearing vocabulary and expressions is predominantly related to negative evaluative connotation since they reveal disapproving, condemning, contemptuous emotional attitude and high level of expressivity.

The article features verbal mood as one of the morphological means of expressing the category of politeness. The main attention in the study of the category of courtesy and the means of its expression is focused on the functional grammar and the functional-semantic field as one of its basic concepts. When teaching a foreign language (grammar in general or communicative grammar in particular), the main role should be assigned to the functional principle of teaching. The principle is based on systems of different levels that express this or that meaning of the categories in question. The category of inclination, being an intentional category, expresses the relation of action to reality established by the speaker. Much attention is given to the characteristic features of the imperative and subjunctive moods that make up the nearest periphery of the functional-semantic field of courtesy both in Russian and Persian. The research concentrates on the semantics of the forms of imperative and subjunctive moods as invariants of the politeness category and explores various speech acts expressing different degrees of politeness in both languages.

This article describes a special type of advertising texts characterized by a text-stylistic replication. This property of text implies an intentional imitation of the original source by preserving its typical distinctive feature that depends on the type of the first principle. This makes it possible to recognize the imitation despite the changing lexical, grammatical and subject-shaped components. The paper features a specific differentiation of such texts based on linguistic and / or rhythmic-sound imitation of the proto-word while taking into consideration the elements of the plot and expressive means. From the point of view of peculiarities of imitation of this or that source, construction and artistic organization in the advertising space, the following types of text-stylistic secondary nature can be distinguished: 1) the imitation of specific works; 2) the imitation of an indefinite number of similar works; 3) the imitation of speech of a particular speaker; 4) the imitation of an indefinite number of similar speeches. Within each of these types the advertising material is divided into additional groups, depending on the type of source and means of creating stylization. The paper provides a description of the basic features of such secondary nature texts as well.

The article analyzes the linguostylistic means of expressing the conflict of material values and the hero’s authenticity in the novel “Room at the Top” by John Braine. The concept “authenticity” represents the key component of this research and is treated as the real self of the hero, or his self-identity, which is not determined by any outer factors, such as the social context of one’s life. By means of linguistic analysis the authors show that Joe Lampton’s authenticity is ruined due to his utilitarian approach to life. The approach in question is expressed in the hero’s belief in his right for prosperity and his desire to break class divisions at any cost. The article studies the expressive means (repetition, metaphor, emotional vocabulary, volitional vocabulary, polysyndeton, etc.) the author of the novel uses to convey the idea of the conflict between the hero’s inner self, or his authenticity, and the social stereotype of “wealth is happiness”. 

The paper presents a description of perceptive strategies employed by the authors of Internet comments to political discourse. The correlation of the news story and the comments is seen in the linguopersonological perspective. The online comments are generically secondary texts if referred to the political news story considered to be a primary text and hence, they reflect certain features of the primary text. The paper deals with the analysis of text perception, and the authors give a classification of the strategies according to perception mode (holist vs serialist strategies), perception level (rational vs irrational strategies) and perception type (impulse vs reflection strategies). The implementation of the strategies revealed is shown through the analysis of online comments on Russian news website “Ria” and English websites “The Guardian” and “The Independent”. The strategically constructed analysis of Internet comments to political discourse enables the authors to assume that within a single microtext the simultaneous implementation of two opposed strategies may sometimes occur due to the complex structure of a language person in general and a language person of internet commentator in particular.

The article features the phases of the development of ideas about parts of speech in the Russian linguistics. The aim of this research is to analyze and compare approaches to parts of speech made by various Russian linguists. In spite of the fact that the classification of words into parts of speech has a very long history, going back to ancient grammars, the interest in the matter has never expired, in the Russian language at various phases of its development as well. An analytical review of fundamental studies devoted to this aspect has demonstrated that the theory of parts of speech in the linguistic science has got a distinct dialectical character. In this connection the investigation of the origin and development of Russian parts of speech is especially relevant not only for Russian linguistics, but also for the theory of language in general. As this research reveals, both the number and the status of parts of speech has changed in the process of their segmentation in the Russian language. The overview of their evolution in grammatical conceptions of Russian scientists is important as it helps to define the place of this category in the morphological system of the grammar. The theoretical significance of the article is in the revelation of study methods applied to parts of speech and their interpretation. The results of the research conducted can be used in the preparation of lectures and seminars in general linguistics, history of linguistics, history of language and theoretical grammar. 

The subject of this study is the forms of realization of the concept of “good wishing” in Russia and China, which occupies an important place in the spiritual culture of society, as it regulates the relationships between people within the accepted social statuses and roles. Good wishing serves a contact-fixing (societal or phatic) function and is therefore widely present in various spheres of human communication. The appropriateness of the research is defined by the expansion and strengthening of international relations, as well as by the dominance of well-favored forms of communication in the business environment. The aim of the research is to identify universal and differentiating signs of good wishing in Chinese and Russian linguistic societies on the basis of real usage, that is, the definition of cultural-universal and national-specific features of texts expressing good will. The methodology of the study includes a semantic and communicative analysis, which allows defining lexico-semantic, stylistic and grammatical features of good wishes in Russian and Chinese languages. The study material included on-line greeting cards with various Russian and Chinese wishes. Awareness of the ethnic representation specifics of good wishing will contribute to the improvement of mutual understanding in Russian-Chinese communication.

The article deals with the issues of artistic perception culture of fictional texts. The sufficiency of literary reading is derived from the aesthetic specificity of verbal art: from special status of an author's figure, from the special nature of the artistic sense, from the special text organization as a combination of the reader's impression factors. According to M. Bakhtin, literature is interpreted as the art of “indirect speaking”, where the author “puts on silence” because in fictional text we never deal with the writer's speech, it is always mediated by the figure of the talking hero or the narrator. The artistic perception of fictional texts should be studied as a reader's skill. The culture of reading is the complementarity of two differently directed vectors: it is a deep and sincere empathy, as if it were reality; on the other hand – the reader's creativity in relation to the text artfullness, which conceals the meaning of the art work. The artistic sense is actualized by the reader's consciousness as complementary to the author's consciousness manifested in the text.

The article is devoted right-wing populist movements in Germany, which are the direct consequence of the crisis of multicultural community. In their propaganda they speculate on the mood in the society, using Islamophobia as their main weapon. The phenomenon of Islamophobia, or criticism of Islam, as well as the fight against its growing influence, has been heating up on the territory of the EU and, in particular, in Germany, where it is connected with Muslim immigrants. The right-wing movements bring the refugee issue into focus of public attention to strengthen their position in the current political landscape. The subject of the research is the most active and significant right-wing populist movements in modern Germany. The article defines the term of right-wing populism, as well as the most favorable conditions for its occurrence. The paper features the history, political activity and the ideology of the right-wing populist movements in Germany. It also offers a brief outlook on the degree of influence of anti-Islamic attitude in the European and German society.

The paper considers the possibility of alternative Europe integration development, such as the idea of the United Statelets of Europe, represented in the Eurotopia project. It focuses on the main stages of its implementation, development and origins. The latter includes the theory of size proposed by Austrian philosopher Leopold Kohr. This theory is based on the necessity of breakdowns of large national states and formation of statelets, such as Bohemia, Moravia, Bourgogne and others. Special attention is given to 1) the choice of people to represent the theory in public, e. g. such major European industrialists as Fritz Thyssen and Alfred Heineken, and 2) accurate selection of a moment suitable for this, for instance, 1941 and 1992. The paper features future possibilities for the theory of size and the Eurotopia project as a new concept of European integration development, as well as options for creating a suitable conjuncture.

The subject of the study is the regularities and regional specifics, directions, forms and content of historical and regional studies of museum institutions in the context of the socio-cultural development of the Altai Territory during the first post-war decade. With the support of the theoretical and methodological developments of the new local history, the paper examines the transformation of the regional practice of studying local history in museums in the postwar years in connection with the changes in the socio-cultural landscape, political and ideological discourse. The article analyzes the key personalities and events that form the framework of the historical memory of the regional community in the period under consideration. It recreates the semantic structure of the image of the region constructed in the course of educational activities. It has been established that the post-war decade saw many prerequisites for the restoration of museum work in research, preservation and reproduction of local historical and cultural heritage. The strict regulation and standardization of the activities of these institutions in the context of the ideological campaign against "cosmopolitanism" promoted the propaganda of the achievements of Russian science and culture on the basis of local materials.

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of the areas of interaction between the Kuznetsk voivodes (governors) and proprietary estate managers of the A. N. Demidov’s Kolyvan factories in the second quarter of the XVIII century. The research is based on unpublished documents from the funds of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. The article features the reaction of the district administrators to the establishment and dynamics of the security system at copper smelteries in the interstream area between the Ob and the Irtysh. The system contradictions between the interests of civil authorities and A. N. Demidov’s managers are demonstrated by the example of the use of state-owned salt, as well as by the amenability of crimes. The resulting collisions and conflicts are considered as a consequence of the unregulated procedure of the relationship of the relevant administrative subject in lawmaking and administration. The author casts doubt on the popular opinion that there was no competition between the state and the proprietary basics in the development of the Upper Ob-Irtysh area. The author comes to a conclusion about the permanent aspiration of the Kuznetsk voivodes to expand their administrative influence on the estate managers of the Kolyvan-Voskresensky department.

The article presents the results of a study of materials from the Minusinsk-Khakass expedition of 1930 under the leadership of archaeologist V. G. Kartsov. This expedition is connected with the activities of Siberian museums, the Society for Siberian Studies, the office of “Novoexport” and a number of organizations involved in the search for funds to sell historical and cultural heritage abroad. The new Soviet state looked for means for industrialization. In this regard the “Novoeksport” office was created and the program of archaeological researches was developed. The current paper features mostly the work of N. K. Auerbach, V. G. Kartsov and V. P. Levasheva, who became the organizers and participants of the expedition. They made the significant contribution to science and museum work in Siberia. The current research has involved a considerable amount of documents from the central and regional archives, most of which are introduced for the first time into scientific use. The main method used was the historical and system method that gives a chance to show the interaction of researchers, to recreate a complete picture of activity of the expedition, as well as its role for implementation of state policy. The research considerably expands the data on the archaeological researches that Siberian museums conducted for “Novoeksport” in 1920s–1930s.

The authors of this article aimed at reconstructing the biography of B. I. Fuks in the context of the history of the Soviet era and its most important events. Boris Ilyich (Ber Eljich) Fuks (1897–1973) was a Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, a surgeon, the founder of Novokuznetsk Surgical School. His scientific and pedagogical activity was primarily connected with the Tomsk State University and the State Institute for Advanced Training of Doctors, consistently located in Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Stalinsk (Novokuznetsk). The research is based on the documents found in the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the State Archives of Tomsk Region, the State Archives of Kemerovo Region, the State Archives of Kemerovo Region in Novokuznetsk, and the Archives of Novokuznetsk State Institute for Advanced Training of Doctors, and some publications in the central and local periodicals. The documents from the personal archive and memoirs of B. B. Fuks, the son of B. I. Fuks (Boston, USA), made up a separate important set of sources.

The article explores the issue of participation of the traditional China merchant class in special examinations that gave the right to work in the state authorities. The author’s aim was to find the answer to the following question: why were merchants banned from the exams, whereas artisans and peasants were granted this opportunity. When they were finally given such an option, it immediately resulted in a huge wave of applicants willing to pass the difficult test, despite its great material and moral costs and the fact that there was no guarantee that the applicant could ever become a government official to become officials, even if they passed the ordeal with flying colors. The author concludes that for most of the applicants the main purpose was not the bureaucratic post itself but the degree that allowed them to enter the ranks of the privileged scholar class shênshih (绅士) and become part of the political elite of Chinese society, which gave them more opportunities to develop their trading business.

The current research features the concept behind the Ethnic and Ecological Museum "The Tyulbersky gorodok" and gives a retrospective view of its history. The main distinctive feature of the museum is that, unlike other ecomuseums of the Tom’ River valley within the Culture of Kuzbass program, it owes its existence to a confluence of favorable circumstances. It emerged due to the resolute actions of the local archeologists and ethnographers, the patriotic sentiments of the former leaders of the Kemerovo district, the support of the JSC Kuzbassenergo of the Northern Electrical Networks, the Kemerovo state University, the professional work of architects and designers and the skill of the conservation specialists in carpentry. The initial stage of its development involved the archeological excavations and studies on the local flora and fauna performed by the KemSU academic staff and students. Kuzbass school students participated in the Educational scientific center of the ethnoecological researches "Gorodok". In 1998 university students had their first field practice in the camp created with the financial support from the Northern Networks. The second stage was the official opening of the eco-museum in 2003. It achieved the following official status: municipal budgetary institution of the Kemerovo municipal district Ethnic and Ecological Museum "The Tyulbersky gorodok" with temporary preservation of the Educational scientific center of the ecomuseum and KemSU on the basis of the Contracts on cooperation and joint activity (2003, 2005 and 2007).

The documentation, proceeding from social-democratic organizations of Primorye during the revolution of 1905–1907 is considered and political reaction, presented in the Collection of Illegal Publications of the Center for Social and Political History (CSPI) at the State Public Historical Library (GPIB). Documentary collections of the library are equated to archival collections and are an important component of the Archive Fund of the Russian Federation, and the documentation contained in them, as a rule, belongs to the category of particularly valuable or unique. The Center for Social and Political History of the State Public Historical Library contains in its collection illegal publications of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), including publications of local organizations and groups. Primorye organizations include 13 documents, which are charters, cash reports, conference resolutions, mandates to deputies, reports on the status and activities, political proclamations. Most of the documents come from the Vladivostok organization of the RSDLP – officially approved by the leading organization of the Primorsky district of the RSDLP, which included all the Social Democratic groups of the Primorsky region. The aim of the article is to reconstruct the organizational structure, status and activities of the organizations of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in the Primorsky region of the Amur governor general-governorate and to determine the functional role and significance of the historical documentation presented in the department of the rare book of the CSPI, according to the surviving historical sources. Being historical sources and performing a retrospective function, during the period of its operation the collection documents carried social, political, ideological, and regulatory functions. Their importance for studying the social and political movement in the Far East, Siberia and the country as a whole can not be overestimated.

The current paper uses the sources of the State Archives of Kokshetau, the State Archive of Akmola region (Kokshetau) and the Archive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty) to cover the history of the deportation of the Chechen and the Ingush peoples to Kazakhstan. These are mainly reports, notes, various correspondence, which contain information about the process of resettlement, the economic and domestic and labor arrangements of the socalled special settlers from the North Caucasus. The identified sources of archives give the author an opportunity to recreate the history of the resettlement and the economic accommodation of the special settlers – the Chechens and the Ingush – from the North Caucasus to the territory of the Kokchetau region in the Kazakh SSR. The information obtained has allowed the author to analyze the economic, socioeconomic, cultural structure of the special settlers and, thus, to consider the formation of the Chechen and the Ingush Diasporas on the territory of Kazakhstan. The author introduces a large number of previously unpublished archival materials into scientific use. The use of archival documents allowed the author to disclose various aspects of the issue under consideration.

The article introduces for scientific use and achaeological interpretation the items from the collection of the Kemerovo Regional Local History Museum, Museum-Preserve "Tomskaya Pisanitsa", the Archaeology, Ethnography and Ecology of Siberia museum (Kemerovo State University Museum) and the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography (Tomsk State University). The methodology of the research is based on the definition of the term «incidental find» for particular cases of incidental finding of an archaeological site which allows one to use this type of sources for historical and cultural reconstructions in that region for the first time. The research applies the methods of mapping and landscape-geomorphological analysis, comparative and typological method, periodization method. The article determines the main meaning of accidental finds for updating the archaeological map of the least researched Tom region areas connected to the territory of Kemerovo and watershed areas of the right bank of the River Tom. The work outlines the chronological group of the items and presents some conclusions about the possible connection of the stone tools with those from Izylinka, Irbinsko-Novo Kuskovo or Krokhalevo Neolithic-Early period of the Developed Bronze Age settlements; about the accidentally found knives and diggers confirming Irmen cultural domination in Late Bronze period and exchanges with cross-border cultural groups; about typological proximity of a number of Scythian period accidental finds with the same period complex in the Middle Yenissey area, Achinsk-Mariinsk forest-steppe and Tomsk Ob River area; about the association of the Kulay and Post-Kulay period findings with ritual practices at cult places.

The article features the activities of the Soviet and the Polish governments aimed at creating the so-called Eastern Pact in 1933 – the spring of 1935. The archives of Soviet intelligence declassified in the 2000s show that while the Soviet government fought for the pact, the governments of Poland, Germany and Japan were secretly preparing to conduct a policy of aggression against the USSR as early as in 1935; the secret sponsor and mastermind behind the plan was representatives of the British ruling circles. The major figures of the group were the head of the Bank of England M. Norman and the head of the House of Lords and the Minister of War, Lord Hailsham. By the spring of 1935, the Soviet political authorities already possessed all the information of strategic importance, which allowed them to take the necessary action. In March 1935, the Chinese Eastern Railway was sold, in April they publicized the secret Polish-German treaty signed on 25 February, 1934; on 2 May the Franco-Soviet treaty of mutual assistance was signed, and a similar treaty with Czechoslovakia was concluded on 16 May. Thus, the minor collective security system was established, which would put an end to the plans of Berlin, Tokyo and Warsaw to unleash their anti-Soviet intervention before the end of 1935.

The current research studies the wages of foreign prisoners of war (P.O.W.s) who worked in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1942–1948. The paper contains the information about the pays to the P.O.W.s were transferred from the funds of the enterprises where they worked. The article analyses the level of P.O.W. wages, the dependence of the wages from the labour activities and the bonus that the P.O.W.s received for good performance. The paper contains the data on the average level of P.O.W. wages in Izhevsk and lists the kinds of labour activities where the P.O.W.s received the highest wages. The research is based on archival documents, most of which were involved in the scientific use for the first time.

It is highly unlikely that the P.O.W.s who were in Udmurtia in 1945–1948 starved since they could use their wages to buy additional provisions in the camp stalls and town shops.

The current paper features the research history of the Russian period archeological sites (fortified and unfortified settlements, cemeteries) on the territory of the Kuznetsk Tom’ River valley from the second quarter of XX century to the present day. Three stages of this process, which demonstrate the trend of increasing scale of Russian archeology in Western Siberia, were distinguished. The article analyzes the qualitative aspect of the research on the Russian period archeological sites. The analysis was performed on the basis of object dependency, studied by split-level methods of field archeology (reconnaissance and excavation) and type of publication (descriptive and analytical). A mapping of the Russian time archeological sites was conducted. It highlights some irregularities in their studies in the Kuznetsk Tom’ River Valley. The article points out some directions for further field research, among which: a search for new Russian settlements of XVII–XIX centuries at the estuaries of the tributaries of the Tom’ river near old stockade towns; excavation work at previously discovered old Russian villages and cemeteries and the assessment of their current state.

The current paper features the peculiarities of colonization of the Kolosovsky district of the Omsk region in the 16th – early 20th centuries. The author integrally approaches the study of this process, analyzing the main ways of settling and economic development of the area. Considerable attention is paid to the factors that conditioned the process of development of the territory. The formation of the rural settlement network of the district, in many ways, was determined by the vectors of state policy, in particular, the policy of resettlement of peasants from the country's low-land regions. Favorable geographical and climatic conditions, the presence of the river artery made the territory of the Kolosovsky district attractive for settlers, who both established their own settlements and settled in old-timer villages. The history of the region is considered in the mainstream of the history of the state, taking territorial features into account. The article outlines the stages of development of the territory, characterizes each of them, by emphasizing the economic activity development. The author gives specific dates for the formation of villages, analyzing the available foundation versions.

The current paper features the reasons and the content of the administrative-territorial reform introduced by Yamato ruler – emperor Homuda (Ōjin, 390 – late 414 / early 415 AD [of the corrected chronology]) in 411 AD [of the corrected chronology] in Kibi area (in western Honshu). The article contains the data obtained about the administrative-territorial units he organized and the local governors he appointed. It has been revealed that the elderly emperor delegated the rule to his three sons and retreated to Kibi area, which was the homeland of his younger wife E-hime. Upon his arrival, emperor Homuda undertook an administrative-territorial reform for the benefit of the hereditary owners of these lands, i.e. the Mitomo-wake clan. He established districts (Jap. agata) and appointed the “lords of districts” (Jap. agata-nushi). Besides, he appointed the “rulers of regions” (Jap. kuni-no miyatsuko) in the regions (Jap. kuni) of Bizen and Bicchū (in Near and Central Kibi). This reform resulted in the fact that emperor’s cousins-in-laws from his younger wife’s side rose to power in the regions (Jap. kuni) and in the newly- created districts (Jap. agata) of Near and Central Kibi.

The paper deals with the matter of preserving the traditional cultures of ethnic and national groups within the institutional frameworks of Serbia’s autonomous provinces of Vojvodina, Kosovo and Metohija. It analyses the experience of cultural autonomy institutions in the sphere of cultural policy, practical impact of institutional solutions on modern forms of preserving ethnic traditions. A particular attention is given to the preservation of cultures of vulnerable groups that lack resources for transition from the stage of traditional ethnic groups to a complete system of preservation and development of national culture. Drawing the example of institutions of cultural autonomy of national minorities in Vojvodina, the article shows the importance of internal resources of small ethnic groups, principle of professionalism in human resources policy and in allocation of funds, as well as of depoliticisation of culture as a prerequisite for expanding possibilities for public initiative, holistic expression of group identity, building social capital and preventing the rise of ethnic elites that conduct political mobilisation, interethnic and intraethnic segregation. The experience of Serbian enclaves of Kosovo and Metohija and their cultural heritage shows that absence of political will is an insurmountable obstacle for observing basic rights and freedoms of a national group that makes up a demographic minority, even in a developed consociational system of representation, backed by an imposing presence of international military troops.