‘Russian merchant’ legacies in post-Soviet trade with China: Moral economy, economic success and business innovation in Yiwu
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‘Russian merchant’ legacies in post-Soviet trade with China : Moral economy, economic success and business innovation in Yiwu. / Skvirskaja, Vera.
In: History and Anthropology, Vol. 29, No. sup.1, 2018, p. S48-S66.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Russian merchant’ legacies in post-Soviet trade with China
T2 - Moral economy, economic success and business innovation in Yiwu
AU - Skvirskaja, Vera
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This article focuses on Russian traders operating in China, particularly in Yiwu, the major commercial hub for the ‘small commodity’ trade, and explores the idea of the ‘Russian merchant’ prevalent in Russia today. Rather than examining the new commercial culture from the perspective of global neoliberalism, it deals with Russia’s pre-Soviet merchant estate (soslovie) and its present-day political-ideological evocations. While there is no direct cultural-professional continuity between pre-Soviet and post-Soviet merchants, some similarities have come to the fore and have been encouraged by the state and the Church. This is due to the promotion of a particular moral economy wherein the ‘Russian merchant’ figures as a positive category. Using a case study of a Russian trader in Yiwu, the article illustrates the new ways in which mistrust as well as ‘traditional’ merchant attributes such as patriotism and patriarchal authority, have been harnessed to create a successful Russian transnational business.
AB - This article focuses on Russian traders operating in China, particularly in Yiwu, the major commercial hub for the ‘small commodity’ trade, and explores the idea of the ‘Russian merchant’ prevalent in Russia today. Rather than examining the new commercial culture from the perspective of global neoliberalism, it deals with Russia’s pre-Soviet merchant estate (soslovie) and its present-day political-ideological evocations. While there is no direct cultural-professional continuity between pre-Soviet and post-Soviet merchants, some similarities have come to the fore and have been encouraged by the state and the Church. This is due to the promotion of a particular moral economy wherein the ‘Russian merchant’ figures as a positive category. Using a case study of a Russian trader in Yiwu, the article illustrates the new ways in which mistrust as well as ‘traditional’ merchant attributes such as patriotism and patriarchal authority, have been harnessed to create a successful Russian transnational business.
U2 - 10.1080/02757206.2018.1496916
DO - 10.1080/02757206.2018.1496916
M3 - Journal article
VL - 29
SP - S48-S66
JO - History and Anthropology
JF - History and Anthropology
SN - 0275-7206
IS - sup.1
ER -
ID: 204160855