Humanities & Social Sciences 4 (2016 9) 978-985 ~ ~ ~ УДК 316.44 The Process of Transformation in the Modern Crimea Irina A. Khalii* Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences 24/35, Krzhizhanovsky Str., Building 5, Moscow, 117218, Russia Received 10.11.2015, received in revised form 15.02.2016, accepted 25.03.2016 The current events in Crimea represent a clear transit from one political and cultural mode to another. <...> It does not include a radical economic element, i.e. a move toward market relations, since this line has already been taken and implemented to some degree in the analyzed societies. <...> Nevertheless, it has also become a cause for so called “cultural trauma” described by P. Shtompka. <...> Then, there is a vital question of how to cope with it. <...> The analysis is based on the informal observation over the general mood in the Crimean society during the postSoviet periods and on the results of experiments carried out by the department for social and cultural development in Russia from August to September, 2015. <...> The research is done on the one hand with the means of qualitative methods, i.e. using in-depth interviews with the offi cials and representatives of healthcare organizations, cultural and educational institutions as well as with the locals from fi ve cities (84 interviews in total); and, on the other – through the method of focus-groups with students studying in 3 different universities. <...> It has been described that transformational processes are being performed, and the idea of their implementation is possessed by the biggest part of the Crimeans. <...> Within the analysis of a successful merge between Crimea and Russia, some essential requirements as well as their presence in the modern Crimean society have been defi ned. <...> In particular, they include suffi ciency of economic and human resources, civil accord between social elites, governmental retention of the social control, pro-active measures on heated social and armed confl icts. <...> As the research has shown, the process of joining to Russia has a future, since today’s young generation, and students in particular, are sure in their “Crimean position”: they study in this region and have fi xed plans for their further life there. <...> Keywords: transformation, cultural trauma, political and cultural mode, Crimean society, local communities, joining to Russia. <...> This way doesn’t <...>