• DOI:10.1111/J.1468-2281.2006.00352.X
• Corpus ID: 154513301

Did serfdom matter? Russian rural society, 1750–1860*

@article{Dennison2006DidSM,
  title={Did serfdom matter? Russian rural society, 1750–1860*},
  author={Tracy K. Dennison},
  journal={Historical Research},
  year={2006},
  volume={79},
  pages={74-89}
}

• T. Dennison
• Published 1 February 2006
• History, Economics
• Historical Research

Historians have long assumed that the effects of serfdom on rural economies were uniformly negative. More recently, however, a revisionist view has emerged, which portrays serfdom as having had little or no effect on peasants’ social and economic behaviour. This article examines these theories, using archival material for one particular serf estate in central Russia, during the period 1750–1860. The evidence indicates that the effects of serfdom were not as straightforward as either view suggests. While certain aspects of serfdom on this estate – a system of property rights and contract enforcement – were beneficial to its inhabitants, these were not integrated into any larger legal framework, and their benefits were thus prevented from spilling over to the rural economy at large.