Yefim Pivovar: "Humanitarian dimension of Eurasian integration is an important bond between countries"

Today at the Russian State Humanitarian University, with the support of the History of the Fatherland Foundation, an international scientific conference "The Humanitarian Dimension of Eurasian Integration: History and Prospects" was held. On the eve of the forum, its moderator, doctor of historical sciences, professor, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, president of the Russian State Humanitarian University, director of the Institute of Post-Soviet and Interregional Research of the Russian State Humanitarian University, Yefim Pivovar, told Vestnik Kavkaza about humanitarian integration.

- How would you characterize the humanitarian dimension of Eurasian integration?

- The very process of Eurasian integration will soon turn 30 years old. But at the Russian State University for the Humanities, it is precisely this component that is important to us as one of the most important dimensions of the whole process. We are preparing a scientific conference, which will be called ”The Humanitarian Dimension of Eurasian Integration. Present state and prospects. ” We hope that this project will be ongoing, and we will hold such forums annually at the end of the year.

Humanitarian change - a very wide range of activities: educational integration; integration of mass media, Russian-speaking or mass-media of the countries which participate in this integration process; cultural integration - we regularly host forums for scientific and cultural intelligentsia. Science is developing very dynamically in our countries, and integration processes give a synergistic effect. This leads to the development of science, regardless of what field of knowledge we are talking about.

Humanitarian and scientific projects are being implemented that are aimed at educating the younger generation. There are also religious integration processes. It must be admitted that various processes in the field of spiritual life are developing in the CIS. There are serious cataclysms, as in Ukraine, generated not by conflicts between believers, but by conflicts of leaders of various religious organizations who have politicized their activities to please certain political forces. There are also positive processes. Suppose, if we take Azerbaijan, then confessional cooperation is represented very widely there. This is one of the successful examples of the interaction of different faiths, different communities within the same country. The same can be said about Kazakhstan, about Moldova, where there are positive examples of interaction between representatives of different faiths or within the framework of one denomination. All this requires close attention, analysis and study in the framework of forums, scientific conferences and so on.

- How are scientific integration processes developing in the field of historical knowledge?

- On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Victory, it is extremely important to combine the efforts of scientists, experts of the educational community, political forces of the countries that participate in the Eurasian integration processes, in order to adequately spend the memorable days that are coming in 2020. This is extremely important for the moral and political mood in these countries, and for educational practice, and for assessing the contribution that all our peoples have made to the common Victory and the salvation of mankind from the brown plague. This must be passed on to the next generations who should receive this information from us and from those who were living participants in those events, those who were born immediately after these events.

We publish several manuals for students, teachers, for students of pedagogical universities dedicated to this date. We are preparing one of the manuals with Belarusian colleagues. I hope that at the beginning of next year its final version will be presented. We are preparing another manual with Uzbek historians. We plan the same work with our Kyrgyz colleagues. This is one of the themes of the integration efforts of our communities. Of course, much remains to be done in this process: both in the opening of documents and in the interpretations of certain events. Nevertheless, it is important to do this all the time and not to lose sight of the importance of such activities.

- How is educational practice developing in the framework of integration processes in the Eurasian space?

- The transition to the Bologna system, the creation of conditions for changing curricula, standards, including educational, professional, level education systems are many problems, the solution of which was common to all our countries. Now there is already experience, and they need to share, it is necessary to adopt it in conditions when all educational systems of our countries are open to the outside world, open not only to each other, but also to other educational practices, whether in Europe, whether in Asia, whether in America and so on.

Of no less importance for analysis is the state of the scientific knowledge of our countries, and humanitarian in particular, in the face of new challenges that the world now faces. We are in a digital revolution. How does this revolution affect educational practice, scientific activity, and the results of our efforts, be they historians, sociologists, political scientists, ethnologists? More data and, in general, digitalization of the economy lead to a completely new landscape - both educational and scientific. It is necessary by common efforts to overcome obstacles, including generational obstacles. Psychological research is important here, moreover, psychological research on childhood and advanced age. These tasks require common efforts, exchange of experience, exchange of practices.

Knowing each other is especially important for the humanities. Over the years, much in history, in culture, in the history of the culture of our societies has been revealed and presented to the public. All this should be known not only within the framework of one society, but also within the framework of the entire Commonwealth. This will strengthen the integration processes. The more we know about each other, the more there will be bonds that allow us to understand each other and strengthen our capabilities. That is why the conference, which we spoke about at the beginning of the interview, as a first step in this activity is extremely important. I hope that this will be only the beginning, since the humanitarian dimension of Eurasian integration is the most important bond that allows us to be sure that integration will progressively develop.