“Survival strategies” in history methodology

Abstract

The article considers the meaning of the term “survival strategy” in historical science, prospects, and practices of its use in the study of traumatic historical experiences, including the history of the famine of 1932-1933. The term “survival strategy” is widely used in ecology, economics, history, psychophysiology, and psychotraumatology. Even though survival strategies during the Holocaust, Holodomor, and Great Famine in China are a topic that is still popular but there are works in which this term is included in the title, there is no clear definition of this term in historical science. The article considers the meaning of the term “survival strategy” in historical science and analyzes the prospects and practices of its use in the study of traumatic historical experiences, including the history of the famine of 1932-1933. The methodological basis of the study is an interdisciplinary approach. The methodology for defining the concept of “survival strategy” is based on the work of biology, genetics, ecology, trauma psychology, psychophysiology and neurobiology, and economic theory. Practices of using the terms “survival strategy” in historical science are analyzed. Thus, as we can see, the concept of “survival strategy” has taken its place in historical science and is widely used in practice, in the study of the history of traumatic experiences, such as the Holodomor of 1932-1933. An interdisciplinary approach allows the successful use of the methods of natural and social sciences in the historical humanities.