“Ethnological Expert Assessment”: A Russian Experience in Evaluating the Social Impact of Industrial Projects

Abstract

The article discusses the principal definitions and types of ethnological expert assessments in Russia and examines in detail several cases thereof. I point to the sore spots in the development of such assessments, arguing that, presently, there is no defined and accepted scientifically informed concept of what ethnological expert assessment is or ought to be, while its methods are random and varying depending on the competence and proficiency of workgroups that conduct it. I further show that nearly all assessments of the kind that have been conducted to date rest on the idea of searching for the “norm of culture” (which, in the overwhelming majority of cases, happens to be limited to cultural situations of small ethnic groups), as well as on an effort to evaluate emotionally the damage that that “norm” suffers. I point out to the approaches to, and principles of, the social impact assessment (SIA) that have been successfully tested and put to practice in various countries and argue for their adoption and more vigorous use.