POPULATION SIZE OF ALTAI DISTRICT WORKERS FROM THE FORMER ARTISAN CABINET IN THE LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

Changes caused by modernization affected all sectors of society and almost all aspects of its life. Last but not least, the institution of the family was affected as well. The emerging working class was in the vanguard of this process. The changes were due to new requirements defined by the life in the industrialized society. One of these changes was almost universal decrease in the size of workers’ families, including those in Western Siberia. For the relative majority of the studied groups of workers, the reasons for this change are obvious, while some other groups require further study. One of such groups is the Altai district workers of the former artisan Cabinet. Population size of former artisans’ families was about on par with other workers. But the authors believe that the reasons for this obvious similarity were different. In the first case we are dealing with the consequences of the previous pre-industrial non-economic method of exploiting the Cabinet artisans, in much the same way as the serfs. This situation was not conducive to the growth of family size since the pre-industrial times, and therefore, the process of modernization could not be the cause of low family size in this category of workers.