Moral Communities: The Culture of Class Relations in the Russian Printing Industry 1867-1907 (Volume 14)

Studies on the History of Society and Culture

by Mark D. Steinberg

This valuable study offers a rare perspective on the social and political crisis in late Imperial Russia. Mark D. Steinberg focuses on employers, supervisors, and workers in the printing industry as it evolved from a state-dependent handicraft to a capitalist industry. He explores class relations and the values, norms, and perceptions with which they were made meaningful. Using archival and printed sources, Steinberg examines economic changes, workplace relations, professional organizations, unions, strikes, and political activism, as well as shop customs, trade festivals, and everyday life. In rich detail he describes efforts to build a community of masters and men united by shared interests and moral norms. The collapse of this ideal in the face of growing class conflict is also explored, giving a full view of an important moment in Russian history.

Genres: History

428 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 1992

About the author

A specialist on the cultural, intellectual, and social history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Mark D. Steinberg is professor of history at the University of Illinois.