From Peasants to Labourers : Ukrainian and Belarusan Immigration From the Russian Empire to Canada

This illuminating study of transnational population mobility offers a new interpretation of early twentieth-century Canadian immigration from tsarist Russia. Canadian immigration from the Russian Empire is often portrayed as consisting entirely of non-Slavic minorities and religious refugees. Vadim Kukushkin shows that a large number of immigrants were peasants from Russia's Ukrainian and Belarusan provinces attracted by Canadian wage-earning opportunities, unlike their neighbours from Austrian-ruled Ukraine who searched for land. "Canadian immigration from the Russian Empire is often portrayed as consisting entirely of non Slavic minorities and religious refugees. Vadim Kukushkin shows that a large number of immigrants were peasants from Russia's Ukrainian and Belarusan provinces attracted by wage-earning opportunities in Canada, unlike their neighbours from Austrian-ruled Ukraine who searched for land." "Written from the migration systems perspective, From Peasants to Labourers places the migration of Ukrainian and Belarusan peasant-workers within the context of Old and New World economic structures and state policies. Through painstaking analysis of thousands of personal migrant files in the archives of the Russian consulates in Canada, Kukushkin fills a void in our knowledge of the geographic origins, spatial trajectories, and ethnic composition of early twentieth-century Canadian immigrants from Eastern Europe. From Peasants to Labourers also provides important insights into the nature of ethnic identity formation through an exploration of the meaning of "Russianness" in early twentieth-century Canada."--BOOK JACKET Canadian immigration from the Russian Empire is often portrayed as consisting entirely of non-Slavic minorities and religious refugees. Vadim Kukushkin shows that a large number of immigrants were peasants from Russia's Ukrainian and Belarusan provinces attracted by wage-earning opportunities in Canada, unlike their neighbours from Austrian-ruled Ukraine who searched for land.

Written from the migration systems perspective, From Peasants to Labourers places the migration of Ukrainian and Belarusan peasant-workers within the context of Old and New World economic structures and state policies. Through painstaking analysis of thousands of personal migrant files in the archives of the Russian consulates in Canada, Kukushkin fills a void in our knowledge of the geographic origins, spatial trajectories, and ethnic composition of early twentieth-century Canadian immigrants from Eastern Europe. From Peasants to Labourers also provides important insights into the nature of ethnic identity formation through an exploration of the meaning of "Russianness" in early twentieth-century Canada.

Written from the migration systems perspective, From Peasants to Labourers places the migration of Ukrainian and Belarusan peasant-workers within the context of Old- and New-World economic structures and state policies. Through painstaking analysis of thousands of personal migrant files in the archives of the Russian consulates in Canada, Kukushkin fills a void in our knowledge of the geographic origins, spatial trajectories, and ethnic composition of early twentieth-century Canadian immigration from Eastern Europe. From Peasants to Labourers also provides important insights into the nature of ethnic identity formation through an exploration of the meaning of "Russianness" in early twentieth-century Canada. Contents Tables, Figures, and Maps Abbreviations Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration, Terminology, and Dates Introduction 1 Economy, Society, and Migration on Russia's Western Frontier 2 The Anatomy of Migration 3 An Airtight Empire? 4 "So Close to Being Asiatics" 5 Frontiersmen and Urban Dwellers 6 Sojourners and Soldiers 7 A Difficult Constituency: Priests, Preachers, and Immigrants 8 Bolsheviks or Rebels? Conclusion Appendix: The Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers Collection as a Statistical Source Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z