Peasant Dreams and Market Politics

His eye for the telling details of social relations, consumption, reputation, and the principals of navigation between two worlds illuminate subject after subject.

This work is a notable addition to a growing literature on the Russian peasantry . . . His specific contribution is his exploration of the interplay between economic and cultural imperatives and his firm focus on what the interaction between the village and the world outside meant in practice for all concerned.

The author gracefully incorporates anthropology, discourse theory, and even psychology to analyze the evolution of peasant economic strategies as the traditional patriarchal household and its institutions and customs for social control came under attack by the rapid shift to a commodity economy, growth of factory industry, and regional centralization of trade in Russia.

Burds's regional approach . . . makes Peasant Dreams and Market Politics such an invaluable contribution to historiography. Avoiding too-large generalizations, he builds up a credible picture of the intricate social fabric that bound peasant migrants in the central industrial region to the village community and the agricultural sector.

This book makes an important contribution to illuminating the intersection of economic, social, and cultural history in late imperial Russia. . . . Burds's work should be widely read by students of rural history, labour history, and peasant studies; it would also be valuable in courses in the areas or on imperial Russia generally.