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The purpose of the article is to study the recent tendencies of growth of Russia’s agro-industrial complex (AIC), determine the optimal scenario of its development, and develop recommendations in the sphere of state regulation for its practical implementation. While there are tendencies of growing production and increase in Russia’s export, against this background, there is a tendency of quicker increase of import of food – if it continues, positive balance of foreign trade of food products in 2018 will turn into negative balance in 2020–2024. Though efficiency of crop farming is peculiar for a tendency of quick growth, efficiency of animal breeding is stable, which does not allow overcoming the growing deficit of food in Russia, which grows under the influence of the tendency of wear of fixed funds and slow implementation of new fixed funds due to insufficient financing. Scenarios of mid-term (i.e., until 2024) growth of Russia’s AIC are compiled, of which the most optimal is scenario that requires technological advancements, due to which increase in the value of index of food security up to 85.00 points (27%) will be achieved and the set goals of growth and development of Russia’s AIC will be reached. For a successful optimal scenario of the growth of Russia’s AIC, we offer recommendations in the sphere of state regulation of its digital modernization: adoption of the national strategy of transition to AIC 4.0 within the program “Digital economy of the RF,” development of import substitution in the AIC with emphasis on B2B markets, preparation of the technological platform for transition to AIC 4.0, and sufficient financing for digital modernization of the AIC.

This chapter analyses the presence of Russian feminists and female LGBTIQ+ activists within US-American mainstream media. In the course of a multimedia discourse analysis, it briefly raises questions of who becomes featured and how, to argue that current debates marginalise Russian queer female, trans*gender and intersex voices, compared to those of male queers. One exception to this trend is the case of the journalist and activist Masha Gessen. Together with Nadya Tolokonnikova of the protest group Pussy Riot, Gessen seems to represent Russian queers and feminists within US media. Although marginal, compared to the presence of US feminisms, especially popular culture figures such as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter or Lady Gaga, the two women become frequently featured within US news media and beyond. Frequently, those articles, interviews and discussions of their work open up a debate, or rather comparisons, between US values and Russian values, questions of modernity, progress and civilisation. Equally often, the female Russian dissidents are pictured as ‘Putin’s victims’ – the female versions of David fighting against Goliath – by focussing especially on their physical vulnerability and their female bodies. In this vein, feminism is constructed as inherently ‘Western’, while the bodies that carry out such feminisms and most of all their country of origin is entirely ‘othered’. Comparing the (self-)representations to other voices of female Russian dissent within US media, the author critically discuss the Western gaze of US mainstream media, its victimising strategies and homonationalistic construction of US identity and US nation in rejection of a ‘backward’ homophobic Russia.

Entrepreneurship is a new field of research in Russian higher education. This chapter discusses the emergence of entrepreneurial education in Russian universities by examining their key documents and relevant curricula. Findings indicate that only a few modern Russian universities develop entrepreneurial programmes that contribute to the income of the less funded from research organisations. These programmes are mainly student-paid graduate programmes aimed at providing students with hard skills. The study also addresses factors that influence students’ entrepreneurial intention following the theory of planned behaviour. Beyond attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, a new contextual variable of entrepreneurial environment and education significantly impacts intention. This result along with subjective norm influence implies that prospective graduate entrepreneurs in Russia are motivated to venture to contribute to their society. Finally, this study provides recommendations on how Russian universities could empower entrepreneurial education to undertake a substantial role in regional entrepreneurial ecosystem development.

This chapter attempts an evaluation of Lenin's economic thought from a Marxian standpoint. This chapter argues that Lenin's reading of Marx's Capital in Development of Capitalism in Russia (1899) was biased toward Ricardian or logic-historical interpretation of value, disproportionality theory of crisis as well as economic determinism, characteristic of the Second International Marxism. While admitting that Lenin overcame economic determinism and reformist politics of the Second International Marxism in his Imperialism (1917), this chapter shows that some essential elements, such as thesis of progressiveness of capitalism, stagiest or typologist conceptions of capitalism, still persisted within and after Imperialism. Moreover, this chapter argues that Lenin's Imperialism cannot be considered as a successful concretization of three latter parts of Marx's plan of critique of political economy in Grundrisse (1857), that is, State (Part 4), Foreign Trade (Part 5), and World Market Crisis (Part 6). This chapter also argues that the ambivalence of Lenin's economic thoughts and incomplete break with the Second International Marxism unexpectedly led to Stalinist thesis of state monopoly capitalism, market socialist ideas, and reformist conception of “varieties of capitalisms.”

The chapter studies top-priority directions of implementation of the optimization model of well-balanced information economy. It is shown that digital economy is a result of transformation of technological processes in the sphere of information and communications. New technological platforms allow legal entities and individuals to reduce transaction costs of the process of communications between themselves and public authorities. The basic reason of active development of digital economy is growth of transaction sphere, incomes from which constitute 70% of GDP in developed countries. Digital technologies stimulate more intensive training of population, help reducing expenditures during knowledge exchange, and are a basic resource during development and implementation of innovational projects. The authors study various approaches to evaluation of implementation of digital technologies and analyze Russia’s role in the sphere of development of digital technologies in the world. The performed analysis allows distinguishing priorities of implementing the optimization model of well-balanced information economy.

The aim of the chapter is to develop some approaches to turn education, predetermining the quality of human capital, into the most important factor of national inclusive development. This problem is titled by the World Bank Report (2018) as “Learning: to realize education’s promise.” There has been revealed a fundamental contradiction between the two processes: the training technology is improved, the treasury of knowledge is enriched, the scientific progress accelerates, on one side, but on the other side, according to the international Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study (2015), about 28% of the Russian 15-year-olds, for example, did not master the minimum necessary skills in at least one area of the three (natural science, mathematics, and communication in their native language). Meanwhile the correlation between educational and economic “failures” is high. Reduction in school failure in half (up to 15%) corresponds to the growth of the country’s GDP by 2% at the perspective of 10 years, by 5–6% – in 20 years, and by over 10% – in 30 years. The authors identify and substantiate the most important factor of the low basic knowledge of schoolchildren: it deals with the phenomenon of stable psychological and cognitive barriers in their minds. As a result of this theory, a model of educational consciousness has been developed, which makes it possible to overcome educational failure and to form algorithms for successful learning.

The purpose of the research is to determine the stages of the development of information economy in modern Russia and to create a conceptual model of establishment and development of information economy in modern Russia.

The methodology of the research includes a systemic approach and the method of comparative analysis.

The authors conclude that despite large potential, Russia is still at the initial stage of information economy’s formation due to the influence of the determined institutional, structural, and investment barriers. At present, Russia is in the process of transition from the initial stage of information economy’s formation, which is related to the formation of technosphere (spheres of the ICT), to the middle stage, in which sociosphere (information society) is established. However, despite this, there is a large potential in the sphere of informatization of socio-economic system of Russia, which belongs to the final stage of the formation of information economy.

The created conceptual model of establishment and development of information economy in modern Russia showed structural disproportions in information economy of modern Russia. Insufficient technological support, which has resulted in ineffective state management during the formation of information economy at the initial stage, cannot be combined with independently formed social core, the process of creation of which, initiated by the state directive on transition to the middle stage of the formation of information economy, should have started this year. The authors offer practice-oriented recommendations for correction of the current strategy of information economy’s formation in modern Russia.

The purpose of this chapter is to develop the algorithm of the strategy of implementing the information economy’s optimization model in modern Russia.

The method of systemic, problem, and logical analysis, synthesis, and the method of compilation of block schemes are used.

The algorithm of the strategy of implementing the information economy’s optimization model in modern Russia is presented. It has a cyclic characteristic and is variable, successfully adapting the conceptual model of a well-balanced information economy to the practical peculiarities of the social system of modern Russia and ensuring flexibility of the developed strategy of its application in the Russian economic practice. The offered algorithm of the strategy of implementing the information economy’s optimization model in modern Russia is a logical continuation of the developed strategy, supplementing its scientific and theoretical significance with the possibilities and perspectives of successful practical application. The offered algorithm shows clarity and simplicity of the general internal structure of the process of implementing this strategy with a simultaneous high complexity of specific measures.

The developed algorithm explains the logic of successful realization of the strategy of implementing the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy in modern Russia and is recommended for usage as a practical guide for implementing this strategy.

The purpose of this chapter is to study perspectives of formation of the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy in modern Russia.

The research methodology includes the complex SWOT analysis of the environment, wherein the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy in modern Russia is implemented; this analysis allows determining threats and possibilities for its formation. Also, the method of formalization is used that allows tablulation of results.

The authors show a number of prerquisites for the formation of a well-balanced information economy in Russia, as well as multiple internal barriers on the path of its development. One of the barriers is deficit of resources. Also, there exist large perspectives of formation of the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy. These perspectives include improvement of legal conditions of financing of development of digital economy, intensive development of the ICT spheres and online business, growth of innovational activity and efficiency in the information sphere, and creation and stimulation of implementing the possibilities for feedback in the course of information economy’s formation. Based on the analyzed tendencies, it is concluded that these perspectives will allow overcoming the major barriers on the path of implementation of the strategy of building the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy in modern Russia, related to deficit of resources, structural imbalance of the noosphere, low efficiency of information, and linear direction of the process of management of information economy.

The authors determine that successful practical implementation of this strategy is largely predetermined by the capability of state regulators for a highly effective management of internal and external factors. It is recommended to pay attention to the management of these factors in the process of practical implementation of the strategy of forming the optimization model of a well-balanced information economy in modern Russia.