Migration Patterns, Occupational Strategies, and Work Experiences in a Large Textile Town: The Case of Ivanovo-Vozensensk

Abstract

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, industrialization and urbanization were transforming certain areas or Imperial Russia, undermining traditional ways of life and creating severe strains, dislocations, and tensions. In the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, located in Shuia uezd (district) of Vladimir Province about one hundred fifty miles northeast of Moscow, the powerful, interconnected forces of urbanization and industrialization were carving out an environment based on the factory rather than the farm. Yet within the context of these seemingly inexorable forces changing the social, economic, and eventually, political fabric of the country, there were real people making choices and decisions. They significantly affected their environment and, moreover, created mechanisms and strategies to cope with the impersonal forces that altered the possibilities and oppmtunities for work and survival. This essay examines peasantworkers' responses to the dislocations and opportunities created by accelerated economic and social transfonnations.