Biographic Method in Social Policy Assessment

Abstract

The article describes a case of applying biographical method to the study of the memory policy. The research featured archival sources, personal documents, and published family memoirs of foreign citizens repressed in the 1930s. The paper demonstrates advantages of using the method as part of interdisciplinary approach in a hybrid methodological complex and describes various techniques of the hybridization procedure. The hybrid methodological approach made it possible to reconstruct a person's life path against the background of the historical situation in the country, to understand the context of their lives, their meanings and goals in specific historical conditions. The comparative analysis of the biographies resulted in a typical biographical situation and a typical life path of a repressed foreigner in Russia. Against the background of the typical fate of repressed foreigners, each individual biography emphasizes both the striking similarity of the scenarios and the unique experience. The biographical method proved efficient in studying the memory policy, embodied in different scenarios. The author believes that Russia needs to develop a policy of memory as it could bring to harmony various narratives and meanings, thus strengthening the civil solidarity.