Российское отходничество: вехи многовековой истории

ЭКО. 2019. № 11. С. 94–115.

Plusnin J.

Abstract. Otkhodniks are the self-name of Russian internal temporary work migrants. They commonly are seasonal workers, but they are different from seasonal agricultural workers, as well as from circulatory migrants and gastarbeiters. A lot of them are small business entrepreneurs. But, they are mostly hired workers. The key attributes of the otkhodniks are following. They live permanently in the villages and small towns, but they seek work in the capitals (Moscow and St. Petersburg), or in industrial centers in the North and in Siberia. These people do not want to change their place of permanent residence in order to move closer to the working place. The main labor motivation of migrant workers is to increase the family’s welfare. Otkhodniks have the basic life motivations - independence, initiative, self-activity.

In this paper I briefly reviewed the 5-century history of Russian otkhodnichestvo. I have identified the main causes of this type of migration in the imperial period (XVII-XX century) and in our time over the past 30 years. I also identified factors that stimulate or suppress the migration activity of provincial residents. I have the author's estimates of the otkhodniks’s current number presented, and compared them with the estimates of other authors for the XVII – XX centuries. This allowed me to describe the secular dynamics. I have also estimates of the otkhodniks’s  structure of employment from the 1990s provided. The evolution of modern working migration has been described. The most important features of the evolution are dynamism, variability and expansion. Seasonal migrants-otkhodniks, are a new class in Russia – the precariat.

Keywords: неформальная экономика, самозанятость, отходники, otkhodniks, precariat, informal economics, self-emploiment, internal seasonal labor migration, history of Russian otkhodnichestvo, labor migration structure, возвратная сезонная трудовая миграция, история российского отходничества, структура и виды отхожих промыслов

Publication based on the results of: Промыслы провинции: организация неформальных экономических практик населения (2019)