Traditional Economy of the Sakhalin Nivkhs: Between Sustainability and Development

Abstract

The article examines defi nitions of traditional economy and strategies of its development in the contemporary world, used by the state, industrial companies (Sakhalin Energy) and one of the small numbered indigenous peoples of the North – Nivkhs. The research data reveal that a popular concept of sustainable development might be used as a mechanism of infl uence on the traditional economy. Sustainable development is viewed by decision-makers as another stage of social evolution or a social formation which indigenous peoples still have to achieve. The author comes to the conclusion that the image of primitive society in relation to indigenous peoples of the North continues to dominate post-Soviet discourse.