Territory: Journal of Historical Research

Dear Readers,

This is the first issue of the Territory: Journal of Historical Research published by the Institute of Russia’s Regional History, Faculty of Humanities, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

The word in the title refers to a very specific territory: we are interested in the history of Russia and its neighbor countries, including those which were part of the Russian Empire and the USSR. We see territory as a space inhabited by people, ideas, imaginations and memories.

We intend the journal to become a platform for scholars who follow the classical source-based approach, as well those welcoming multidisciplinary exchange. Without limiting the scope of historical research, we would like our authors to focus on the issues and fields once seen as of secondary concern or even marginalized, but recently having grown in importance – such as regional or economic history.

Discipline-wise, the journal prioritizes:

• political history: discussions of political and institutional development, including the paradigms of new political history and new institutional history; engaging with the state-society relations, and a comparative view;
• regional history: strategies and practices of regional governance; bilateral relations between the “center” and “region”; citizenship and allegiance; settler practices and their conceptualizations; historical landscapes of networked projects (resettlement, reproducing institutions, implementing practices tested elsewhere);
• economic history: economic development and history of various social groups and strata, including the underprivileged; implementation of notable infrastructural projects; economic life on the frontier; understanding and interpreting economic processes.

We are also deeply interested in the following specific fields:

• history of wars and their consequences: sociopolitical and economic realities during wartime; warfare zones, occupied territories, frontline zones and the home front; the impact of wars of urban settlements and reconstruction practices; regional takes on the history of wars;
• historical and cultural memory and politics of the symbolic: mechanisms, social practices and institutions of commemoration; public spaces; historical and geographical positioning and its anthropological component; imaginary (mental) geography; commemoration practices;
• history of ideas and visual culture: political culture and political rhetoric; the rise and development of ideological orientations; historical imagery; public history.

The journal will stand against the popular academic tendency to favor the extremes. Our aim, on the contrary, is to promote a balanced combination of conceptualizing and validating theoretical models by means of historical sources. We appreciate original ideas underpinned by precise and extensive source data – most importantly, those from the archives. Discussing historical documents receives additional value when it happens in a wider context and beyond simplistic retelling.

Besides the traditional formats of research articles, review articles and book reviews, we plan to publish various historical sources, accompanied by commentary and an academic introduction.

In the first issue of Territory, you will find articles covering a variety of topics in the history of 17th - 20th century Russia  - from discussions of the subjecthood of local communities in Russia’s (pre)imperial period to its legal culture and judicial practices in the 18th and 19th centuries, and from the political rhetoric under Alexander I to preserving heritage and everyday life in the late Soviet Union.

We hope that the articles and reviews published in this issue will resonate with our readers, provide food for thought or discussion, and ultimately serve as a good start on a long journey. We wish you an enjoyable and informative read.

Thank you for being with us!

Ekaterina Boltunova