Red Petrograd: Revolution in the Factories, 1917-1918 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies)

This book explores the impact of the 1917 Revolution on factory life in the Russian capital. It traces the attempts of workers to take control of their working lives from the February Revolution through to June 1918, when the Bolsheviks nationalised industry. Although not primarily concerned with the political developments of the Revolution, the book demonstrates that the sphere of industrial production was a crucial arena of political as well as economic conflict. Having discussed the structure and composition of the factory workforce in Petrograd prior to 1917 and the wages and conditions of workers under the old regime, Dr Smith shows how workers saw the overthrow of the autocracy as a signal to democratise factory life and to improve their lot. After examining the creation and activities of the factory committees, he analyses the relationship of different groups of workers to the new labour movement, and assesses the extent to which it functioned democratically. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 A profile of the Petrograd working class on the eve of 1917 Petrograd: the city and its industry The size and distribution of the factory workforce in 1917 The social composition of the Petrograd working class Peasant workers and 'cadre' workers Sexual and age divisions Skill divisions Conclusion 2 The tsarist factory The administration of the tsarist factory Conditions of work The standard of living during the war The strike movement during the war 3 The February Revolution: A new dispensation in the factories Democratising the factory order The eight-hour day Wage struggles Management strategy after the February Revolution 4 The structure and functions of the factory committees The structure of the factory committees Factory committees and the organisation of food supply Factory committees and labour discipline Factory committees and the campaign against drunkenness Factory committees and cultural policy Factory militias and Red Guards 5 Trade unions and the betterment of wages Craft unionism and industrial unionism The political composition of the trade unions Strikes and inflation The campaign for collective wage contracts The metalworkers' contract The wage contracts: key features Relations between workers and Sluzhashchie 6 The theory and practice of workers' control of production The theory of workers' control Anarchism, syndicalism and the Petrograd labour movement Workers' control as a response to economic chaos The politics of workers' control: February to October 1917 Menshevik, SR and anarchist perspectives on control of the economy The Bolsheviks and workers' control The factory committee conference debates on workers' control The politics of workers' control at factory level 7 Deepening economic chaos and the intensification of workers' control Economic crisis and industrial relations Workers resist attempts to evacuate industry The factory committees against redundancies Workers' control becomes more radical The relationship of the factory committees to the trade unions 8 The social structure of the labour movement The social composition of labour protest and labour organisation Women workers Peasant and unskilled workers Young workers Democracy and bureaucracy in the trade unions and factory committees Democracy in the trade unions Democracy in the factory committees 9 The October Revolution and the organisation of industry The decree on workers' control The role of the trade unions The subordination of the factory committees to the trade unions Towards a socialist economy Lenin, the Bolsheviks and Workers' control after October 10 The economic crisis and the fate of workers' control: October 1917 to June 1918 From workers' control to workers' self-management Economic catastrophe and the dissolution of the working class The labour organisations and the crisis of labour discipline Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index S.a. Smith. Began Life As A Ph. D. Thesis Undertaken At The Centre For Russian And East European Studies At The University Of Birmingham--p. X. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 308-327.