{"product_id":"for-the-common-good-and-their-own-well-being-social-estates-in-imperial-russia-9780190939625","title":"For the Common Good and Their Own Well-Being: Social Estates in Imperial Russia","description":"Every subject of the Russian Empire had an official, legal place in society marked by his or her social estate, or \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e. These \u003cem\u003esosloviia\u003c\/em\u003e (noble, peasant, merchant, and many others) were usually inherited, and defined the rights, opportunities, and duties of those who possessed them. They were also usually associated with membership in a specific geographically defined society in a particular town or village. Moreover, although laws increasingly insisted that every subject of the empire possess a \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e \"for the common good and their own well-being,\" they also allowed individuals to change their \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e by following a particular bureaucratic procedure. The process of changing soslovie brought together three sets of actors: the individuals who wished to change their opportunities or duties, or who at times had change forced upon them; local societies, which wished to control who belonged to them; and the central, imperial state, which wished above all to ensure that every one of its subjects had a place, and therefore a status. This book looks at the many ways that soslovie could affect individual lives and have meaning, then traces the legislation and administration of \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e from the early eighteenth through to the early twentieth century. This period saw a shift from soslovie as above all a means of extracting duties or taxes, to an understanding of \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e as instead a means of providing services and ensuring security. The book ends with an examination of the way that a change in \u003cem\u003esoslovie\u003c\/em\u003e could affect not just an individual's biography, but the future of his or her entire family. The result is a new image of soslovie as both a general and a very specific identity, and as one that had persistent meaning, for the Imperial statue, for local authorities, or for individual subjects, even through 1917.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlison K. Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of History, University of Toronto.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844072247570,"sku":"9780190939625","price":36.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_994f5cbd-dddc-4c99-a729-059111a58698.jpg?v=1737309815","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/for-the-common-good-and-their-own-well-being-social-estates-in-imperial-russia-9780190939625","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}