Ruling Peasants challenges this dominant paradigm of the closed village by investigating the ways peasants engaged tsarist laws and the local institutions that were created in a series of contradictory legal, administrative, and agrarian reforms from the late 1880s to the eve of World War I. Gaudin's analysis of the practices of village assemblies, local courts, and elected peasant elders reveals a society riven by dissension. As villagers argued among themselves in terms defined by government, the peasants and their communities were transformed. Key concepts such as "custom," "commune," "property," and "fairness" were forged in such dialogue between the rulers and the ruled.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the framework of dialogue between the peasants and the state no longer worked. The more peasants used the institutions and laws available to them, the more they solicited the authorities, and the greater the obstacles to communication grew. Villagers' rising expectations for assistance foundered in the face of inconsistent state policies and arbitrary legal responses. Ironically, the success of often contradictory reforms—a success unrecognized by administrators themselves—contributed to undermining the state's legitimacy.
Ruling Peasants challenges this dominant paradigm of the closed village by investigating the ways peasants engaged tsarist laws and the local institutions that were created in a series of contradictory legal, administrative, and agrarian reforms from the late 1880s to the eve of World War I. Gaudin's analysis of the practices of village assemblies, local courts, and elected peasant elders reveals a society riven by dissension. As villagers argued among themselves in terms defined by government, the peasants and their communities were transformed. Key concepts such as "custom," "commune," "property," and "fairness" were forged in such dialogue between the rulers and the ruled.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the framework of dialogue between the peasants and the state no longer worked. The more peasants used the institutions and laws available to them, the more they solicited the authorities, and the greater the obstacles to communication grew. Villagers' rising expectations for assistance foundered in the face of inconsistent state policies and arbitrary legal responses. Ironically, the success of often contradictory reforms—a success unrecognized by administrators themselves—contributed to undermining the state's legitimacy.
Ruling Peasants: Village and State in Late Imperial Russia
281
Ruling Peasants: Village and State in Late Imperial Russia
281Hardcover(1)
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780875803708 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Cornell University Press |
| Publication date: | 03/12/2007 |
| Series: | NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies |
| Edition description: | 1 |
| Pages: | 281 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |