I am interested in global and comparative history. The focus of my research and teachingis Modern Europe and Russia, but I also look beyond these areas, in order to incorporate Russia and Europe intoa broader context. I am particularly interested in social, economic, environmental and cultural history, and history of labor, gender relations, peasantries, and childhood.
The World of Child Labor : An Historical and Regional Survey, 2009
Child labor left a significant mark on Russia’s industrialization during the late nineteenth cent... more Child labor left a significant mark on Russia’s industrialization during the late nineteenth century. Children comprised about 15 percent of the industrial labor force, ranging from 0 to 40 percent in individual mills and factories. Most working children came from rural families, while a few were lower-class urban dwellers or inmates of orphanages and foundling homes. Industries employed children for various unskilled auxiliary tasks, and sometimes for tasks normally done by adults. In textile production, they carried bobbins and spindles, cleaned equipment and floors, and on occasion worked as spinners, weavers, or dyers. In mining, they fueled lamps and carried equipment inside the mines. Children received wages at one-third of the lowest adult wage rate. The workday of many children lasted for twelve or more hours. Writings of late-nineteenth-century Russian authors captured the grim realities of child factory labor.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
This important study of the peace arbitrators makes an immense
contribution to the growing body o... more This important study of the peace arbitrators makes an immense contribution to the growing body of literature about Russia’s civil society during the postreform decades. Furthermore, it offers a nuanced snapshot of the emancipation process at the level of lord-peasant-state interactions, whereas until now this has constituted an empty space in the historiography. Every scholar and student of imperial Russian and Soviet history can benefit from reading it.
S. A. Nefedov, Demograficheski-strukturnyi analiz ekonomicheskoi istorii Rossii. KonetsXV – nacha... more S. A. Nefedov, Demograficheski-strukturnyi analiz ekonomicheskoi istorii Rossii. KonetsXV – nachalo XX veka. Ekaterinburg: Izdatel'stvo UGGU, 2005. 539 pp. Historians of imperial Russia have dedicated a great deal of attention to the turbulent and shattering moments in the nation's history. Obviously, there is an acute need to explain the recurrent waves of political collapse and internal warfare. S. A. Nefedov too devotes his volume to Russia's troubling times and suggests the demographic-structural theory as a possible explanation of this pattern. The volume analyzes the influence of demography on the history of early modern and modern Russia through the lens of neo-Malthusian theory and, more specifically, Goldstone's demographic structural theories. In light of this approach, the early seventeenth century Time of Troubles and the early twentieth-century revolutions are central in this book. Nefedov's goal, a sort of implied hypothesis and underlying analytical guide, is simply to explain the usefulness of the demographic structural theory for Russia's case. The study opens with an informative summary of neo-Malthusian and demographic structural theories. Providing a broader global context, the author discusses the possibilities and limitations of these theories and suggests the validity of demographic structural theory. He defines a demographic cycle (i.e. the growth and decline of the population) as occurring within the context of an ecological niche, an inter-relational site of population and its physical and biological environment. Population increases lead to the land scarcity, the decline of real wages, inflation growth and more rapid depreciation of population welfare. Ultimately, all of these produce civil upheaval and increasing disturbances. Perhaps because Nefedov's goal is to prove the utility of the demographic structural theory, rather than to look more deeply into aspects of Russian history, he has predominantly if not exclusively relied on secondary studies. The book's eight chapters introduce a rich body of demographic and economic data (population dynamics, prices, land rents, taxes, real wages, arable lands, productivity) and interweave this wealth of data into the demographic structural theory framework. For Russia during the time period of his focus, Nefedov identifies two demographic cycles: the first began with the rise of Muscovy and culminated in the Time of Trouble and the second continued from the post-Time of Trouble recovery to the early twentieth century revolutions. The book devotes more attention to the latter cycle. According to Nefedov, each cycle consisted of three phases: population growth, its compression and the resulting eco-social crisis. The data Nefedov cites fit convincingly into the Goldstone's demographic structural thesis by demonstrating the interrelatedness of population increase and social and political instability. When it surpasses arable lands yields and creates land scarcity, population growth has dire consequences for the population's well-being and for social institutions. This naturally generates unrelenting price inflation, declining real wages, rural poverty, migration, and augmented incidents of food and wage unrest; it also produces increased ambition for elite positions. The aspiration for better positions leads to mounting rivalry within elites and the development of rival groups competing for state benefits and resources. Consequently, upper social levels become fractionated and contentious. Responding to the elites' pressure, the state expands the army and the bureaucracy and raises taxes in order to finance them. The Russian Empire, claims Nefedov, had experienced these developments during both the first and the second demographic cycles. The first cycle's eco-social crisis culminated in the Time of Trouble, which then led to the enserfment of the peasants. The second cycle's calamitous results produced the Revolution.
The Civil War and early Soviet food policies left millions of children homeless and starving in R... more The Civil War and early Soviet food policies left millions of children homeless and starving in Russia in the first half of the 20th century. Child mortality rates reached 95% in certain areas, and all of these problems remained endemic throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In The Dark Side of Early Soviet Childhood, 1917-1941, Boris B. Gorshkov investigates the causes of this prolonged homelessness and starvation, the conditions faced by huge numbers of children, and the state's unsuccessful efforts to solve these horrendous issues. Gorshkov pays particular attention to the critical role of the secret police (the VChKa and the NKVD) in this story and draws on a range of previously unused archival sources to reveal the full extent of the suffering of children in Russia at this time, as well as the interconnected causes behind it.
The peasantry accounted for the large majority of the Russian population during the Imperialist a... more The peasantry accounted for the large majority of the Russian population during the Imperialist and Stalinist periods – it is, for the most part, how people lived. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin provides a comprehensive, realistic examination of peasant life in Russia during both these eras and the legacy this left in the post-Soviet era. The book paints a full picture of peasant involvement in commerce and local political life and, through Boris Gorshkov's original ecology paradigm for understanding peasant life, offers new perspectives on the Russian peasantry under serfdom and the emancipation.
Incorporating recent scholarship, including Russian and non-Russian texts, along with classic studies, Gorshkov explores the complex interrelationships between the physical environment, peasant economic and social practices, culture, state policies and lord-peasant relations. He goes on to analyze peasant economic activities, including agriculture and livestock, social activities and the functioning of peasant social and political institutions within the context of these interrelationships. Further reading lists, study questions, tables, maps, primary source extracts and images are also included to support and enhance the text wherever possible. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin is the crucial survey of a key topic in modern Russian history for students and scholars alike.
Reviews: “ [A] truly laudable achievement in the academic literature on the Russian peasantry. Gorshkov's comprehensive yet brief and readable survey of this profoundly complex topic provides a brilliant introduction for the lay reader and an instructive summary for the specialist. This book should be considered a necessary resource for any course or study on modern Russian history or society.” – Revolutionary Russia
“[Gorshkov] makes a very strong case that non-agricultural labour was not just an add-on to the peasant economy, but an intrinsic part of it ... [there is] overall value of his study.” – Social History
“Gorshkov's approach [to the Russian peasantry], which cuts through older stereotypes, is a real strength of this book.” – The American Historical Review
“In this engrossing book, Boris Gorshkov provides both an accessible introduction to peasant culture and the village economy and a sweeping history of the countryside during the crucial period when peasants grappled with economic and political revolutions that transformed their lifestyle. For readers interested in modern Russian history, this book is a perfect place to start.” – Aaron Retish, Associate Professor, Wayne State University, USA
At the height of the Russian industrial revolution, legions of children toiled in factories, acco... more At the height of the Russian industrial revolution, legions of children toiled in factories, accounting for fifteen percent of the workforce. Yet, by the end of the nineteenth century, their numbers had been greatly reduced, thanks to legislation that sought to protect the welfare of children for the first time.
Russia's Factory Children presents the first English-language account of the changing role of children in the Russian workforce, from the onset of industrialization until the Communist Revolution of 1917, and profiles the laws that would establish children's labor rights. In this compelling study, Boris B. Gorshkov examines the daily lives, working conditions, hours, wages, physical risks, and health dangers to children who labored in Russian factories. He also chronicles the evolving cultural mores that initially welcomed child labor practices but later shunned them.
Through extensive archival research, Gorshkov views the evolution of Russian child labor law as a reaction to the rise of industrialism and the increasing dangers of the workplace. Perhaps most remarkable is his revelation that activism, from the bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and children themselves, led to the conciliation of legislators and marked a progressive shift that would impact Russian society in the early twentieth century and beyond.
“Much more than a pathbreaking history of child labor in Russia, this book sheds new light on a stunning array of topics, from the pioneering medical studies that identified children's distinctive brain functions and physical capacities, to the radicalizing of a generation of young Russian factory workers. You need not be a Russian historian to benefit from this book's insights into the development of social welfare policy, the construction of age categories, and the roots of revolution.”—Steven Mintz, Columbia University
“This balanced and judicious survey provides an overview of child labor practices and legislation in the century leading up to the Russian Revolution. Gorshkov argues that the relationship with the autocracy was more 'interactional' than confrontational, and that the Russian state was capable of responding positively to public pressure. Adopting a comparative framework in his investigation of child labor laws, he problematizes the notion of 'Russian backwardness' and seeks to normalize Russian history.”—Ben Eklof, Indiana University
“Gorshkov's seminal study of child labor in late imperial Russia displays impeccable scholarship. After analyzing preindustrial child labor, he examines legislative and public debates which resulted in the 1882 Child Labor Law. Gorshkov concludes the work with analysis of the impact of the law and references to the question of child labor in our contemporary world.”—Alice K. Pate, Columbus State University
“Succeeds both as Russian history and as a comparative complement to studies of child labor, reform, civil society, and industrialization elsewhere. Highly recommended.”—Choice “Pathbreaking.
One of the most important aspects of Gorshkov’s study is its use of comparative analysis. This book will force readers to consider how accurately Russia is placed (or not placed) in its European context both in the story of Russia’s industrialization and in broader fields such as world history or labor history.”—The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
“Gorshkov has managed in this concise book to add a new dimension to the history of Russian labour, as well as contributing to current debates about the role of the state, the growth of civil society, and the perception of childhood.”—Canadian Slavonic Papers
“Gorshkov’s interesting and conceptually provocative book examines child labor in the countryside, the impact of industrialization, the difficult working conditions for children in factories, and, finally, the concerns of both educated society and officialdom that led to new labor laws.”—The Journal of Modern History
“Makes an important contribution to the growing field of children’s history, as well as creating a cogent case for a balanced, and historically sensitive, understanding of late imperial Russian social relations.”— Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford.
The World of Child Labor : An Historical and Regional Survey, 2009
Child labor left a significant mark on Russia’s industrialization during the late nineteenth cent... more Child labor left a significant mark on Russia’s industrialization during the late nineteenth century. Children comprised about 15 percent of the industrial labor force, ranging from 0 to 40 percent in individual mills and factories. Most working children came from rural families, while a few were lower-class urban dwellers or inmates of orphanages and foundling homes. Industries employed children for various unskilled auxiliary tasks, and sometimes for tasks normally done by adults. In textile production, they carried bobbins and spindles, cleaned equipment and floors, and on occasion worked as spinners, weavers, or dyers. In mining, they fueled lamps and carried equipment inside the mines. Children received wages at one-third of the lowest adult wage rate. The workday of many children lasted for twelve or more hours. Writings of late-nineteenth-century Russian authors captured the grim realities of child factory labor.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
This important study of the peace arbitrators makes an immense
contribution to the growing body o... more This important study of the peace arbitrators makes an immense contribution to the growing body of literature about Russia’s civil society during the postreform decades. Furthermore, it offers a nuanced snapshot of the emancipation process at the level of lord-peasant-state interactions, whereas until now this has constituted an empty space in the historiography. Every scholar and student of imperial Russian and Soviet history can benefit from reading it.
S. A. Nefedov, Demograficheski-strukturnyi analiz ekonomicheskoi istorii Rossii. KonetsXV – nacha... more S. A. Nefedov, Demograficheski-strukturnyi analiz ekonomicheskoi istorii Rossii. KonetsXV – nachalo XX veka. Ekaterinburg: Izdatel'stvo UGGU, 2005. 539 pp. Historians of imperial Russia have dedicated a great deal of attention to the turbulent and shattering moments in the nation's history. Obviously, there is an acute need to explain the recurrent waves of political collapse and internal warfare. S. A. Nefedov too devotes his volume to Russia's troubling times and suggests the demographic-structural theory as a possible explanation of this pattern. The volume analyzes the influence of demography on the history of early modern and modern Russia through the lens of neo-Malthusian theory and, more specifically, Goldstone's demographic structural theories. In light of this approach, the early seventeenth century Time of Troubles and the early twentieth-century revolutions are central in this book. Nefedov's goal, a sort of implied hypothesis and underlying analytical guide, is simply to explain the usefulness of the demographic structural theory for Russia's case. The study opens with an informative summary of neo-Malthusian and demographic structural theories. Providing a broader global context, the author discusses the possibilities and limitations of these theories and suggests the validity of demographic structural theory. He defines a demographic cycle (i.e. the growth and decline of the population) as occurring within the context of an ecological niche, an inter-relational site of population and its physical and biological environment. Population increases lead to the land scarcity, the decline of real wages, inflation growth and more rapid depreciation of population welfare. Ultimately, all of these produce civil upheaval and increasing disturbances. Perhaps because Nefedov's goal is to prove the utility of the demographic structural theory, rather than to look more deeply into aspects of Russian history, he has predominantly if not exclusively relied on secondary studies. The book's eight chapters introduce a rich body of demographic and economic data (population dynamics, prices, land rents, taxes, real wages, arable lands, productivity) and interweave this wealth of data into the demographic structural theory framework. For Russia during the time period of his focus, Nefedov identifies two demographic cycles: the first began with the rise of Muscovy and culminated in the Time of Trouble and the second continued from the post-Time of Trouble recovery to the early twentieth century revolutions. The book devotes more attention to the latter cycle. According to Nefedov, each cycle consisted of three phases: population growth, its compression and the resulting eco-social crisis. The data Nefedov cites fit convincingly into the Goldstone's demographic structural thesis by demonstrating the interrelatedness of population increase and social and political instability. When it surpasses arable lands yields and creates land scarcity, population growth has dire consequences for the population's well-being and for social institutions. This naturally generates unrelenting price inflation, declining real wages, rural poverty, migration, and augmented incidents of food and wage unrest; it also produces increased ambition for elite positions. The aspiration for better positions leads to mounting rivalry within elites and the development of rival groups competing for state benefits and resources. Consequently, upper social levels become fractionated and contentious. Responding to the elites' pressure, the state expands the army and the bureaucracy and raises taxes in order to finance them. The Russian Empire, claims Nefedov, had experienced these developments during both the first and the second demographic cycles. The first cycle's eco-social crisis culminated in the Time of Trouble, which then led to the enserfment of the peasants. The second cycle's calamitous results produced the Revolution.
The Civil War and early Soviet food policies left millions of children homeless and starving in R... more The Civil War and early Soviet food policies left millions of children homeless and starving in Russia in the first half of the 20th century. Child mortality rates reached 95% in certain areas, and all of these problems remained endemic throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In The Dark Side of Early Soviet Childhood, 1917-1941, Boris B. Gorshkov investigates the causes of this prolonged homelessness and starvation, the conditions faced by huge numbers of children, and the state's unsuccessful efforts to solve these horrendous issues. Gorshkov pays particular attention to the critical role of the secret police (the VChKa and the NKVD) in this story and draws on a range of previously unused archival sources to reveal the full extent of the suffering of children in Russia at this time, as well as the interconnected causes behind it.
The peasantry accounted for the large majority of the Russian population during the Imperialist a... more The peasantry accounted for the large majority of the Russian population during the Imperialist and Stalinist periods – it is, for the most part, how people lived. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin provides a comprehensive, realistic examination of peasant life in Russia during both these eras and the legacy this left in the post-Soviet era. The book paints a full picture of peasant involvement in commerce and local political life and, through Boris Gorshkov's original ecology paradigm for understanding peasant life, offers new perspectives on the Russian peasantry under serfdom and the emancipation.
Incorporating recent scholarship, including Russian and non-Russian texts, along with classic studies, Gorshkov explores the complex interrelationships between the physical environment, peasant economic and social practices, culture, state policies and lord-peasant relations. He goes on to analyze peasant economic activities, including agriculture and livestock, social activities and the functioning of peasant social and political institutions within the context of these interrelationships. Further reading lists, study questions, tables, maps, primary source extracts and images are also included to support and enhance the text wherever possible. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin is the crucial survey of a key topic in modern Russian history for students and scholars alike.
Reviews: “ [A] truly laudable achievement in the academic literature on the Russian peasantry. Gorshkov's comprehensive yet brief and readable survey of this profoundly complex topic provides a brilliant introduction for the lay reader and an instructive summary for the specialist. This book should be considered a necessary resource for any course or study on modern Russian history or society.” – Revolutionary Russia
“[Gorshkov] makes a very strong case that non-agricultural labour was not just an add-on to the peasant economy, but an intrinsic part of it ... [there is] overall value of his study.” – Social History
“Gorshkov's approach [to the Russian peasantry], which cuts through older stereotypes, is a real strength of this book.” – The American Historical Review
“In this engrossing book, Boris Gorshkov provides both an accessible introduction to peasant culture and the village economy and a sweeping history of the countryside during the crucial period when peasants grappled with economic and political revolutions that transformed their lifestyle. For readers interested in modern Russian history, this book is a perfect place to start.” – Aaron Retish, Associate Professor, Wayne State University, USA
At the height of the Russian industrial revolution, legions of children toiled in factories, acco... more At the height of the Russian industrial revolution, legions of children toiled in factories, accounting for fifteen percent of the workforce. Yet, by the end of the nineteenth century, their numbers had been greatly reduced, thanks to legislation that sought to protect the welfare of children for the first time.
Russia's Factory Children presents the first English-language account of the changing role of children in the Russian workforce, from the onset of industrialization until the Communist Revolution of 1917, and profiles the laws that would establish children's labor rights. In this compelling study, Boris B. Gorshkov examines the daily lives, working conditions, hours, wages, physical risks, and health dangers to children who labored in Russian factories. He also chronicles the evolving cultural mores that initially welcomed child labor practices but later shunned them.
Through extensive archival research, Gorshkov views the evolution of Russian child labor law as a reaction to the rise of industrialism and the increasing dangers of the workplace. Perhaps most remarkable is his revelation that activism, from the bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and children themselves, led to the conciliation of legislators and marked a progressive shift that would impact Russian society in the early twentieth century and beyond.
“Much more than a pathbreaking history of child labor in Russia, this book sheds new light on a stunning array of topics, from the pioneering medical studies that identified children's distinctive brain functions and physical capacities, to the radicalizing of a generation of young Russian factory workers. You need not be a Russian historian to benefit from this book's insights into the development of social welfare policy, the construction of age categories, and the roots of revolution.”—Steven Mintz, Columbia University
“This balanced and judicious survey provides an overview of child labor practices and legislation in the century leading up to the Russian Revolution. Gorshkov argues that the relationship with the autocracy was more 'interactional' than confrontational, and that the Russian state was capable of responding positively to public pressure. Adopting a comparative framework in his investigation of child labor laws, he problematizes the notion of 'Russian backwardness' and seeks to normalize Russian history.”—Ben Eklof, Indiana University
“Gorshkov's seminal study of child labor in late imperial Russia displays impeccable scholarship. After analyzing preindustrial child labor, he examines legislative and public debates which resulted in the 1882 Child Labor Law. Gorshkov concludes the work with analysis of the impact of the law and references to the question of child labor in our contemporary world.”—Alice K. Pate, Columbus State University
“Succeeds both as Russian history and as a comparative complement to studies of child labor, reform, civil society, and industrialization elsewhere. Highly recommended.”—Choice “Pathbreaking.
One of the most important aspects of Gorshkov’s study is its use of comparative analysis. This book will force readers to consider how accurately Russia is placed (or not placed) in its European context both in the story of Russia’s industrialization and in broader fields such as world history or labor history.”—The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
“Gorshkov has managed in this concise book to add a new dimension to the history of Russian labour, as well as contributing to current debates about the role of the state, the growth of civil society, and the perception of childhood.”—Canadian Slavonic Papers
“Gorshkov’s interesting and conceptually provocative book examines child labor in the countryside, the impact of industrialization, the difficult working conditions for children in factories, and, finally, the concerns of both educated society and officialdom that led to new labor laws.”—The Journal of Modern History
“Makes an important contribution to the growing field of children’s history, as well as creating a cogent case for a balanced, and historically sensitive, understanding of late imperial Russian social relations.”— Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford.
https://books.openedition.org/ceup/506
This is a translation of one of very few Russian serfs' ... more https://books.openedition.org/ceup/506 This is a translation of one of very few Russian serfs' memoirs. Savva Purlevskii recollects his life in Russian serfdom and life of his grandparents, parents, and fellow villagers. He describes family and communal life and the serfs' daily interaction with landlords and authorities. Purlevskii came from an initially prosperous family that later became impoverished. Early in his childhood, he lost his father. Purlevskii did not have a chance to gain a formal education. He lived under serfdom until 1831 when at the age of 30 he escaped his servitude.
Gorshkov's introduction provides some basic knowledge about Russian serfdom and draws upon the most recent scholarship. Notes provide references and general information about events, places and people mentioned in the memoirs.
Besides its appeal to scholars of Russian history, peasant studies, or servile systems such as serfdom and slavery, the illustrations and the conversational style will make this book highly suitable for undergraduate and graduate classes.
"A fascinating autobiography of a self-made serf-entrepreneur, originally published in 1877... The book - elegantly printed by the Central European University Press and illuminated with nineteenth-century miniatures of peasant life - will surely provide an attractive teaching material for the courses on pre-Reform Russian history, as well as a good read for all those interested in social history of Russia". - The Russian Review
Amazing review of my book by Christine D Worobec in _Historian_ (Summer 2019)!
«Работу критика... more Amazing review of my book by Christine D Worobec in _Historian_ (Summer 2019)!
«Работу критика я еще могу понять – пересказал кое-как чужой сюжет, добавил запаха своих подмышек, и готово. Но этот-то даже объяснить не смог, о чем книга. Зато насрал.»
This paper continues to inquiry into the question of children’s homelessness and its’ persistence... more This paper continues to inquiry into the question of children’s homelessness and its’ persistence between 1918 and the1930s in light of the demographic and economic policies of the early Soviet state.
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contribution to the growing body of literature about Russia’s civil society during the postreform decades. Furthermore, it offers a nuanced snapshot of the emancipation process at the level of lord-peasant-state interactions, whereas until now this has constituted an empty space in the historiography. Every scholar and student of imperial Russian and Soviet history can benefit from reading it.
To order, visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dark-side-of-early-soviet-childhood-19171941-9781350098688/
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Early-Soviet-Childhood-1917-1941/dp/1350098671/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=yxVc8&content-id=amzn1.sym.579192ca-1482-4409-abe7-9e14f17ac827&pf_rd_p=579192ca-1482-4409-abe7-9e14f17ac827&pf_rd_r=134-7502558-5411361&pd_rd_wg=ivH1M&pd_rd_r=806df11c-f36a-4c5e-88a9-28736acad648&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Early-Soviet-Childhood-1917-1941-ebook/dp/B0CK76V6Q5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&asin=B0CK76V6Q5&revisionId=d839080e&format=1&depth=1
Incorporating recent scholarship, including Russian and non-Russian texts, along with classic studies, Gorshkov explores the complex interrelationships between the physical environment, peasant economic and social practices, culture, state policies and lord-peasant relations. He goes on to analyze peasant economic activities, including agriculture and livestock, social activities and the functioning of peasant social and political institutions within the context of these interrelationships. Further reading lists, study questions, tables, maps, primary source extracts and images are also included to support and enhance the text wherever possible. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin is the crucial survey of a key topic in modern Russian history for students and scholars alike.
To order this book, visit: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/peasants-in-russia-from-serfdom-to-stalin-9781474254816/
Reviews: “ [A] truly laudable achievement in the academic literature on the Russian peasantry. Gorshkov's comprehensive yet brief and readable survey of this profoundly complex topic provides a brilliant introduction for the lay reader and an instructive summary for the specialist. This book should be considered a necessary resource for any course or study on modern Russian history or society.” – Revolutionary Russia
“[Gorshkov] makes a very strong case that non-agricultural labour was not just an add-on to the peasant economy, but an intrinsic part of it ... [there is] overall value of his study.” – Social History
“Gorshkov's approach [to the Russian peasantry], which cuts through older stereotypes, is a real strength of this book.” – The American Historical Review
“In this engrossing book, Boris Gorshkov provides both an accessible introduction to peasant culture and the village economy and a sweeping history of the countryside during the crucial period when peasants grappled with economic and political revolutions that transformed their lifestyle. For readers interested in modern Russian history, this book is a perfect place to start.” – Aaron Retish, Associate Professor, Wayne State University, USA
Russia's Factory Children presents the first English-language account of the changing role of children in the Russian workforce, from the onset of industrialization until the Communist Revolution of 1917, and profiles the laws that would establish children's labor rights. In this compelling study, Boris B. Gorshkov examines the daily lives, working conditions, hours, wages, physical risks, and health dangers to children who labored in Russian factories. He also chronicles the evolving cultural mores that initially welcomed child labor practices but later shunned them.
Through extensive archival research, Gorshkov views the evolution of Russian child labor law as a reaction to the rise of industrialism and the increasing dangers of the workplace. Perhaps most remarkable is his revelation that activism, from the bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and children themselves, led to the conciliation of legislators and marked a progressive shift that would impact Russian society in the early twentieth century and beyond.
“Much more than a pathbreaking history of child labor in Russia, this book sheds new light on a stunning array of topics, from the pioneering medical studies that identified children's distinctive brain functions and physical capacities, to the radicalizing of a generation of young Russian factory workers. You need not be a Russian historian to benefit from this book's insights into the development of social welfare policy, the construction of age categories, and the roots of revolution.”—Steven Mintz, Columbia University
“This balanced and judicious survey provides an overview of child labor practices and legislation in the century leading up to the Russian Revolution. Gorshkov argues that the relationship with the autocracy was more 'interactional' than confrontational, and that the Russian state was capable of responding positively to public pressure. Adopting a comparative framework in his investigation of child labor laws, he problematizes the notion of 'Russian backwardness' and seeks to normalize Russian history.”—Ben Eklof, Indiana University
“Gorshkov's seminal study of child labor in late imperial Russia displays impeccable scholarship. After analyzing preindustrial child labor, he examines legislative and public debates which resulted in the 1882 Child Labor Law. Gorshkov concludes the work with analysis of the impact of the law and references to the question of child labor in our contemporary world.”—Alice K. Pate, Columbus State University
“Succeeds both as Russian history and as a comparative complement to studies of child labor, reform, civil society, and industrialization elsewhere. Highly recommended.”—Choice “Pathbreaking.
One of the most important aspects of Gorshkov’s study is its use of comparative analysis. This book will force readers to consider how accurately Russia is placed (or not placed) in its European context both in the story of Russia’s industrialization and in broader fields such as world history or labor history.”—The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
“Gorshkov has managed in this concise book to add a new dimension to the history of Russian labour, as well as contributing to current debates about the role of the state, the growth of civil society, and the perception of childhood.”—Canadian Slavonic Papers
“Gorshkov’s interesting and conceptually provocative book examines child labor in the countryside, the impact of industrialization, the difficult working conditions for children in factories, and, finally, the concerns of both educated society and officialdom that led to new labor laws.”—The Journal of Modern History
“Makes an important contribution to the growing field of children’s history, as well as creating a cogent case for a balanced, and historically sensitive, understanding of late imperial Russian social relations.”— Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford.
To order, visit http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=35987
contribution to the growing body of literature about Russia’s civil society during the postreform decades. Furthermore, it offers a nuanced snapshot of the emancipation process at the level of lord-peasant-state interactions, whereas until now this has constituted an empty space in the historiography. Every scholar and student of imperial Russian and Soviet history can benefit from reading it.
To order, visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dark-side-of-early-soviet-childhood-19171941-9781350098688/
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Incorporating recent scholarship, including Russian and non-Russian texts, along with classic studies, Gorshkov explores the complex interrelationships between the physical environment, peasant economic and social practices, culture, state policies and lord-peasant relations. He goes on to analyze peasant economic activities, including agriculture and livestock, social activities and the functioning of peasant social and political institutions within the context of these interrelationships. Further reading lists, study questions, tables, maps, primary source extracts and images are also included to support and enhance the text wherever possible. Peasants in Russia from Serfdom to Stalin is the crucial survey of a key topic in modern Russian history for students and scholars alike.
To order this book, visit: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/peasants-in-russia-from-serfdom-to-stalin-9781474254816/
Reviews: “ [A] truly laudable achievement in the academic literature on the Russian peasantry. Gorshkov's comprehensive yet brief and readable survey of this profoundly complex topic provides a brilliant introduction for the lay reader and an instructive summary for the specialist. This book should be considered a necessary resource for any course or study on modern Russian history or society.” – Revolutionary Russia
“[Gorshkov] makes a very strong case that non-agricultural labour was not just an add-on to the peasant economy, but an intrinsic part of it ... [there is] overall value of his study.” – Social History
“Gorshkov's approach [to the Russian peasantry], which cuts through older stereotypes, is a real strength of this book.” – The American Historical Review
“In this engrossing book, Boris Gorshkov provides both an accessible introduction to peasant culture and the village economy and a sweeping history of the countryside during the crucial period when peasants grappled with economic and political revolutions that transformed their lifestyle. For readers interested in modern Russian history, this book is a perfect place to start.” – Aaron Retish, Associate Professor, Wayne State University, USA
Russia's Factory Children presents the first English-language account of the changing role of children in the Russian workforce, from the onset of industrialization until the Communist Revolution of 1917, and profiles the laws that would establish children's labor rights. In this compelling study, Boris B. Gorshkov examines the daily lives, working conditions, hours, wages, physical risks, and health dangers to children who labored in Russian factories. He also chronicles the evolving cultural mores that initially welcomed child labor practices but later shunned them.
Through extensive archival research, Gorshkov views the evolution of Russian child labor law as a reaction to the rise of industrialism and the increasing dangers of the workplace. Perhaps most remarkable is his revelation that activism, from the bourgeoisie, intellectuals, and children themselves, led to the conciliation of legislators and marked a progressive shift that would impact Russian society in the early twentieth century and beyond.
“Much more than a pathbreaking history of child labor in Russia, this book sheds new light on a stunning array of topics, from the pioneering medical studies that identified children's distinctive brain functions and physical capacities, to the radicalizing of a generation of young Russian factory workers. You need not be a Russian historian to benefit from this book's insights into the development of social welfare policy, the construction of age categories, and the roots of revolution.”—Steven Mintz, Columbia University
“This balanced and judicious survey provides an overview of child labor practices and legislation in the century leading up to the Russian Revolution. Gorshkov argues that the relationship with the autocracy was more 'interactional' than confrontational, and that the Russian state was capable of responding positively to public pressure. Adopting a comparative framework in his investigation of child labor laws, he problematizes the notion of 'Russian backwardness' and seeks to normalize Russian history.”—Ben Eklof, Indiana University
“Gorshkov's seminal study of child labor in late imperial Russia displays impeccable scholarship. After analyzing preindustrial child labor, he examines legislative and public debates which resulted in the 1882 Child Labor Law. Gorshkov concludes the work with analysis of the impact of the law and references to the question of child labor in our contemporary world.”—Alice K. Pate, Columbus State University
“Succeeds both as Russian history and as a comparative complement to studies of child labor, reform, civil society, and industrialization elsewhere. Highly recommended.”—Choice “Pathbreaking.
One of the most important aspects of Gorshkov’s study is its use of comparative analysis. This book will force readers to consider how accurately Russia is placed (or not placed) in its European context both in the story of Russia’s industrialization and in broader fields such as world history or labor history.”—The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review
“Gorshkov has managed in this concise book to add a new dimension to the history of Russian labour, as well as contributing to current debates about the role of the state, the growth of civil society, and the perception of childhood.”—Canadian Slavonic Papers
“Gorshkov’s interesting and conceptually provocative book examines child labor in the countryside, the impact of industrialization, the difficult working conditions for children in factories, and, finally, the concerns of both educated society and officialdom that led to new labor laws.”—The Journal of Modern History
“Makes an important contribution to the growing field of children’s history, as well as creating a cogent case for a balanced, and historically sensitive, understanding of late imperial Russian social relations.”— Catriona Kelly, University of Oxford.
To order, visit http://www.upress.pitt.edu/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=35987
This is a translation of one of very few Russian serfs' memoirs. Savva Purlevskii recollects his life in Russian serfdom and life of his grandparents, parents, and fellow villagers. He describes family and communal life and the serfs' daily interaction with landlords and authorities. Purlevskii came from an initially prosperous family that later became impoverished. Early in his childhood, he lost his father. Purlevskii did not have a chance to gain a formal education. He lived under serfdom until 1831 when at the age of 30 he escaped his servitude.
Gorshkov's introduction provides some basic knowledge about Russian serfdom and draws upon the most recent scholarship. Notes provide references and general information about events, places and people mentioned in the memoirs.
Besides its appeal to scholars of Russian history, peasant studies, or servile systems such as serfdom and slavery, the illustrations and the conversational style will make this book highly suitable for undergraduate and graduate classes.
"A fascinating autobiography of a self-made serf-entrepreneur, originally published in 1877... The book - elegantly printed by the Central European University Press and illuminated with nineteenth-century miniatures of peasant life - will surely provide an attractive teaching material for the courses on pre-Reform Russian history, as well as a good read for all those interested in social history of Russia". - The Russian Review
To order, visit http://www.ceupress.com/books/html/ALifeunderRussianSerfdom.htm
«Работу критика я еще могу понять – пересказал кое-как чужой сюжет, добавил запаха своих подмышек, и готово. Но этот-то даже объяснить не смог, о чем книга. Зато насрал.»
—Пелевин, Тайные виды на гору Фудзи