Grant said:
And "peasant" is a subjective thing wherever one goes, proudly claimed by some who have no right to the name, and regarded as shameful by others.
--- It sure as hell is shameful _now_ (in Russia and Ukraine, anyway), at least in the cities. People in Kiev and Moscow often regard peasants the way Americans regard "white trash." I assume that's the case in Kiev anyway.
---
But where does the classical distinction between betraks,bednyaks, serednyaks, etc come from? Are these 20th C neologisms?
--- This is outta my league. Peter Lavelle would know -- he has a Ph.D. in this stuff. You out there, Peter?
----
Note that one of the sources [Daniel Romanowski, date unknown, "Jewish History of Ukraine" http://www.heritagefilms.com/UKRAINE.html ] I cited earlier said that in 1897, 2.9% of the Jews in Ukraine (more than 50,000 people) had agriculture as an occupation. Given that kulaks (arguably) did not exist before 1906, what class/es can we say these people belonged to? ---
I'm going to hazard a big speculative guess that most were big landowners. Or does having "agriculture as an occupation" here mean working the land yourself?
Another issue is Jews living in the Pale of Settlement, kind of a big bantustan. Did they grow food themselves, or import it?
The Mountain Jews down in Dagestan and environs are really quite interesting. They live mostly in villages and have adopted the modus vivendi of other Caucasian peoples like the Chechens, Avars, and Cossacks (minus the banditry and fighting part and sticking to kosher food). I really have no idea where these people came from. Khazars, maybe?
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