Waste and its role in changing the nature of alcohol consumption by the peasantry in post-reform Russia (1860–1890s)

Relevance. The article is devoted to the study of otkhodnichestvo as a factor in changes in the nature of alcohol consumption by the peasant population of post-reform Russia. The relevance of the topic is determined by the need to study the consequences of the abolition of serfdom and the abolition of tax farming, including changes in the culture of drinking. Despite the fact that the fact of increased alcohol consumption among otkhodnichestvo has already been noted in Russian historiography, the mechanisms and nature of this connection remain insufficiently understood.

The purpose of the work is to consider otkhodnichestvo as a specific factor of the post-reform period, which determined the change in the nature of alcohol consumption by peasants.

Objectives to characterize the features and typology of otkhodnichestvo; to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between involvement in seasonal work and changes in alcohol practices; to indicate the functions of alcohol among otkhodnichestvo, which entailed the transformation of traditional alcohol practices.

The research methodology includes the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity and consistency, supplemented by the analysis of statistical data on seasonal work and alcohol consumption (statistical method) and the study of sources used to reconstruct the motives and circumstances of alcohol consumption by seasonal workers (narrative method).

Results. The abolition of serfdom, land shortages and low incomes pushed peasants to work, destroying their traditional social ties. In the conditions of heavy physical labor, isolation from the community and family, alcohol acquired new functions for seasonal workers: it served as a stimulant to maintain performance, a means of psychological release, a way to overcome stress, as well as an element of group solidarity and adaptation in a new social environment.

Conclusion. Seasonal work was a powerful factor that transformed the traditional sporadic drinking culture of the peasantry into systematic alcohol consumption in the wasteland, associated with the need to adapt to the changed socio-economic situation. This process had a significant impact on the social structure of post-reform Russia.

1. Chaslavskii V.I. Agricultural latrines in connection with the resettlement of peasants. St. Petersburg: Tip. V. Bezobrazova i K°; 1875. 31 p. (In Russ.)

2. Kartsev E. Economic studies. Latrine fishing. Nablyudatel' = The Observer. 1882;(3):247-269. (In Russ.)

3. Lenskii B. Non-agricultural latrines in Russia. Otechestvennye zapiski = Domestic notes. 1877;(12):207-258. (In Russ.)

4. Vesin L.P. The importance of latrines in the life of the Russian peasantry. Delo = A business. G. 19. 1886;(7):127-155; 1887;20(2):102-124. (In Russ.)

5. Pervushin S.A. The experience of the theory of mass alcoholism in connection with the theory of needs. St. Petersburg: Izd. Komissii po voprosu ob alkogolizme; 1912. 102 p. (In Russ.)

6. Dmitriev V.K. Critical research on alcohol consumption in Russia. Moscow: V.P. Ryabushinskii; 1911. 283 p. (In Russ.)

7. Ryndzyunskii P.G. Peasant withdrawal and the number of rural population in the 80s of the XIX century. In: Problems of the genesis of capitalism. Moscow: Nauka; 1970. 245 p. (In Russ.)

8. Zemtsov L.I., Shevchenko I.A. Alcohol consumption and the struggle for sobriety in the Great Russian countryside at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. Lipetsk: Lipetsk. gos. ped. un-t im. Semenova-Tyan-Shanskogo; 2015. 171 p. (In Russ.)

9. Nikolaev A.V. Russian Drunkenness: from Tradition to Politics. Tol'yatti: Tol'yat. gos. un-t servisa; 2007. 151 p. (In Russ.)

10. Aksakov I.S. Letters from the provinces. Office day at the Criminal Chamber. Moscow: Pravda; 1991. 544 p. (In Russ.)

11. Zhbankov D.N. The Indian Side: A statistical and ethnographic essay. Kostroma: Gub. tip.; 1891. 137 p. (In Russ.)

12. Karyshev N.A. Towards the study of our latrine crafts. Russkoe bogatstvo = Russian wealth. 1896;7(XXXV):1-24. (In Russ.)

13. Tillo A.A. Handicrafts and latrines of Kostroma province. St. Petersburg: Tip. V. Kirshbauma; 1883. 235 p. (In Russ.)

14. Aleksandrov L.Ya. On the situation of agriculture in the Vladimir province (A brief historical and statistical sketch). Vladimir-na-Klyaz'me: Tipo-litogr. Gub. zem. upravy; 1903. 48 p. (In Russ.)

15. Polzykov N.P. Report on the study of the latrine fishery between Kharkov and Taganrog along the Kursko-Kharkov-Azovskaya railway from May 15 to May 31, 1881. Khar'kov: Izd. Khar'kov. stat. komiteta; 1882. 73 p. (In Russ.)

16. Struve L.B. From summer observations. In: Na raznye temy (1893-1901): sbornik statei = On various topics (1893-1901): collection of articles. St. Petersburg: Tip. Doma prezreniya maloletnikh; 1902. P. 465-486. (In Russ.)

17. Antropov P.A. Financial and statistical atlas of Russia. St. Petersburg: A.F. Marks; 1898. 45 l. (In Russ.)

18. Pokrovskii V.I. There are several statistics on alcohol consumption. Report of the Commission on Alcoholism on April 11, 1907. St. Petersburg: Tip. P.P. Soikina; 1907. 34 p. (In Russ.)

19. Dadonov V. Russian Russian Manchester (Letters about Ivanovo-Voznesensk). Russkoe bogatstvo = Russian wealth. 1900;(12):46-67. (In Russ.)

20. Sikorskii I.A. Fundamentals of alcohol policy in Russia. Kiev: Tip. S.V. Kul'zhenko; 1912. 24 p. (In Russ.)

21. GAKO (The State Archive of the Kursk region). F. 1. Op. 1. D. 2669. L. 98, 213-215 ob. (In Russ.)

22. Norov V. State-owned wine monopoly in the light of statistics. St. Petersburg: Tip. N.N. Klobukova; 1905. 120 p. (In Russ.)

23. RGIA (Russian State Historical Archive). F. 574. Op. 1. D. 269. L. 121 ob. (In Russ.)

24. Aleksandrov A. Literacy and drunkenness in Pomerania. Izvestiya Arkhangel'skogo obshchestva izucheniya Russkogo Severa = Proceedings of the Arkhangelsk Society for the Study of the Russian North. 1911;(8-9):687-695. (In Russ.)