A History of Establishment and Development of Domestic Ethnic Ecology

Abstract

The article discusses the history of development of ethnic ecology in Russia/USSR after 1983, which has been mainly carried out by the staff of the Institute of Ethnography, Academy of Sciences of the USSR (presently, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences). Three stages of the development are marked out and briefly expounded upon. A concise survey of the emergence and subject matter of those fields of knowledge that laid in the foundation of ethnic ecology is provided: studies of economic and cultural types, anthropogeocenoses and ethnic ecosystems, adaptive functions and composition of culture, population longevity as an indicator of successful adaptation. The author offers his view of possible goals and basic notions of ethnic ecology as well as its place within the system of sciences.