Upbringing work as local order: Understanding peripheral universities in post‑soviet Russia

This article explores the concept and practice of up-bringing work in regional universities in post-Soviet Russia, particularly those located in economically challenged and demographically declining areas. The study is based on qualitative field data collected between 2016 and 2023 at six classical universities that originated as Soviet teacher-training institutes. It draws on interviews with over 50 students, professors, and administrators, as well as ethnographic observations, visual materials, and field notes. We follow a grounded theory approach to conceptualise up-bringing work as a core category of the local order. Our analysis identifies how up-bringing work is shaped by four key aspects of the environment: geographical location and educational migration, teacher training background, low family SES of students, and uncompetitiveness. These institutions respond pragmatically to their conditions, enacting locally meaningful routines. Up-bringing work is manifested in a repertoire of practices that includes treating universities as surrogate parents, involving students’ families in university life, orchestrating collective activities and amateur art, and reproducing systems of specific rewards. These practices reflect a mix of care and control, continuity with Soviet traditions, and adaptation to weak labour markets and low student preparedness. The article contributes to scholarship on higher education in structurally marginalised contexts by offering a conceptual framework that links environmental constraints to organisational practices in non-elite university settings.