Teleut Kulaks and Traders during the Collectivization Years

Abstract

Drawn on archival sources and the author’s own field research, the article discusses the transformations that took place in the area of trade, money, and commodities among the Teleut during the collectivization period. The Teleut are one of the indigenous minorities in Southern Siberia. The author examines the evidences of discrimination against private business and trade, and the particular economic conditions, induced by collectivization, to which people had to adapt in a specific manner. That adaptation pattern, as the author argues, stemmed from the highly developed legal culture of the Teleut, the long-established tradition of mutual help, and the experience of collective resistance to external pressures threatening their way of life.