Workers, Strikes, and Pogroms

More about the book

Focusing on the Donbass-Dnepr Bend region, this reassessment of Russian labor history highlights the dual nature of the working class, revealing how unskilled laborers both challenged the tsarist regime and perpetuated violence against marginalized groups. From the late 19th century to the 1905 Revolution, revolutionary parties mobilized young male "peasant-workers" for strikes and confrontations, yet struggled to control the resulting chaos. Wynn uncovers the coexistence of radicalism and "low consciousness" rooted in the harsh realities of life in pit villages and steel towns, challenging previous narratives centered on skilled workers in major cities.