Ethnic entrepreneurship of the Black Sea Shapsugs: reflection of the clash of group interests in field work and social media

Abstract (English)

The recent years have seen a growing interest in scientific literature in ethnotourism as an element of regional development. Researchers focus on local cultural peculiarities and analyze effective practices, including markets for ethnic services. The processes of conflict of group interests in ethnic sectors of the economy (recreational areas) and the impact of regional development strategies on them have not been so often in the focus of scholars' attention. Among the reasons is the lack of algorithms for studying social communication systems at the intra- and interethnic levels, as well as the relationship between classical fieldwork and cyber sources.
The problem could be solved through the approbation of techniques for the systematic analysis of social communications in areas of compact residence (the cluster sample) of indigenous peoples.
The external factors of impact include the crisis in agriculture, the alienation of traditionally used lands, which are being included in the newly formed special protected natural areas, the formation of the local market by "non-residents". This results in a permanent manifestation of a system of group interests based on various forms of family business, and the preservation of traditional economic specialization. In addition, Russian regional development programs are characterized by an underestimation of the system of intra-ethnic communications in the field of the traditional economy and a steady line of protectionism towards various "outside" business representatives.
The conducted field research (including two questionnaire surveys) among shapsugs shows that the overwhelming majority of respondents believe that traditional culture should be the basic element for the development of auls. Of greatest interest is the "living culture", which is also represented in cyberspace. This social attitude is inextricably linked with practice: more than half of the respondents (63%) were previously engaged in traditional activities; 40% of the respondents continue to improve their skills at the present time. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the youth surveyed are not involved in ethnotourism, but only a quarter would not like to be involved in this field in the future. The respondents believe that there is no interesting and relevant information about their native auls on the Internet (60%), while 87% think that information campaigns will contribute to the development of auls.
Thus, the clash of group interests in the field of ethnotourism at the interethnic level is associated with the appearance of representatives of "external" business structures on the local market of services, and changes in the rules of land use of special protected natural areas. At the intraethnic level – with the system of intra-village ties determined by the dynamics of ethnic stratification and the stability of tribal institutions. These processes can only be tracked by combining classical fieldwork and social media research.