Formation and development of human capital of small towns in the Arctic in the sociological dimension

Abstract

The article discusses the features of the formation and functioning of human capital based on the materials of sociological studies conducted by the authors in small towns of the Russian Arctic. Traditional sociological tools were used: mass surveys, focus groups, an in-depth survey of experts according to the developed author’s methods. As an opposition to the development of Arctic small towns, shift camps are considered, the functioning of which is currently complicated due to the pandemic and sanctions. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the situation associated with the formation of human capital in the aggregate of its three components (health capital, edu-cational and professional capital, cultural capital) in three regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (RF AZ): its European sector (the study was conducted in the Arkhangelsk region), West Siberian (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) and East Siberian (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug). Judging by experts’ assessments, the least favorable situation for the preservation and enhancement of human capital is developing in the territories of the European sector of the RF AZ, the most favorable situation is in Yamal.