“You have to work, and they will find you and will offer you everything”[«Работать Надо, И Тебя Найдут И Сами Все Предложат»]

In her interview, Tatiana Nefedova, a Chief Researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, tells about her research interests that had formed al- ready in childhood and brought her to the geographical faculty of the Moscow State Uni- versity, and about her further professional development. As a true geographer, the author traveled a lot all over Russia and the world, participated in different interdisciplinary ge- ographical projects, and at first they were not agricultural. Nevertheless, T.G. Nefedova made a significant scientific contribution to the study and development of rural post-So- viet Russia. At the same time her cross-cultural comparative studies of rural Russia and other countries of the world — Europe and Asia — are no less important. In her inter- view, she also focuses on various methods to study the spatial development, on the per- ception and reflections on the poly-scale nature of space, on the diversity of regionality as the most important factor of rural development, and on the ratio of quantitative and qualitative research methods. One of the special topics of the interview is the relation- ship of the scientist and the authorities. Should a scientist seek power and strive to in fluence the state decision-making with his findings despite the threat of turning from a scientist into a politician or an official? In conclusion, new plans and projects of geographical studies of rural Russia are discussed, for instance, the study of such a combi- nation of factors of social development as the long-inhabited territories, social capital, social mobility, agglomerations, summer residents, and cultural heritage.