Women and the Birth of Russian Capitalism : A History of the Shuttle Trade /
Mukhina, Irina
Women and the Birth of Russian Capitalism : A History of the Shuttle Trade / Irina Mukhina. - 1 online resource (355 p.) - NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures, Tables, and Graphs -- Acknowledgments -- Mystery Women: An Introduction -- 1-Origins of the Shuttle Trade, 1987-91 -- 2-The "Golden Age" of the Shuttle Trade and Its Structure -- 3-Women Traders: Success in Numbers -- 4-The Price of Success -- 5-Where Did All the Women Go? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
Little has been known, acknowledged, or studied about the shuttle trade, one of the major manifestations of new Russian life of the 1990s. The term itself seems to suggest something of a rather small scale. Indeed, the amount of each transaction in this trade was miniscule. Individual peddlers traveled to near-abroad with their bulging bags and brought back home for resale only as many goods as they could personally carry in their enormous suitcases. The phenomenon hidden behind the term "shuttle trade" was by no means insignificant or small in scale. By the mid-1990s, it constituted the backbone of Russian consumer trade and was a substantial source of revenue.The primary participants in the shuttle trade were women, and in this enlightening study Mukhina assesses the reasons why women were attracted to this business, the range of the personal experiences of female shuttle traders, and the social impact of women's involvement in this sort of economic activity. By analyzing the social and gendered dimensions of the shuttle trade, the reader can begin to understand more broadly how gender shaped the "transition" period associated with the end of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the difficulties that these women faced highlight the gap between the rhetoric of free market economy and the actual market practices. These women-traders had to create and shape the physical market (an open-air space) for their goods without the basic legislative and other provisions of market economies. The shuttle trade became an avenue of female suffering but also of survival and even empowerment during the time that most Russians now call "the wild 1990s."
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501758157
10.1515/9781501758157 doi
Black market--History.--Soviet Union
Businesswomen--History.--Soviet Union
Capitalism--History.--Soviet Union
Small business--History.--Soviet Union
Women merchants--History.--Soviet Union
History.
Soviet & East European History.
Womens Studies.
HISTORY / Russia & the Former Soviet Union.
Russian consumer trade, Russian free market economy, women traders in Russia.
HF3626.5 / .M844 2014
382.082/0947
Women and the Birth of Russian Capitalism : A History of the Shuttle Trade / Irina Mukhina. - 1 online resource (355 p.) - NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures, Tables, and Graphs -- Acknowledgments -- Mystery Women: An Introduction -- 1-Origins of the Shuttle Trade, 1987-91 -- 2-The "Golden Age" of the Shuttle Trade and Its Structure -- 3-Women Traders: Success in Numbers -- 4-The Price of Success -- 5-Where Did All the Women Go? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
Little has been known, acknowledged, or studied about the shuttle trade, one of the major manifestations of new Russian life of the 1990s. The term itself seems to suggest something of a rather small scale. Indeed, the amount of each transaction in this trade was miniscule. Individual peddlers traveled to near-abroad with their bulging bags and brought back home for resale only as many goods as they could personally carry in their enormous suitcases. The phenomenon hidden behind the term "shuttle trade" was by no means insignificant or small in scale. By the mid-1990s, it constituted the backbone of Russian consumer trade and was a substantial source of revenue.The primary participants in the shuttle trade were women, and in this enlightening study Mukhina assesses the reasons why women were attracted to this business, the range of the personal experiences of female shuttle traders, and the social impact of women's involvement in this sort of economic activity. By analyzing the social and gendered dimensions of the shuttle trade, the reader can begin to understand more broadly how gender shaped the "transition" period associated with the end of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Moreover, the difficulties that these women faced highlight the gap between the rhetoric of free market economy and the actual market practices. These women-traders had to create and shape the physical market (an open-air space) for their goods without the basic legislative and other provisions of market economies. The shuttle trade became an avenue of female suffering but also of survival and even empowerment during the time that most Russians now call "the wild 1990s."
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501758157
10.1515/9781501758157 doi
Black market--History.--Soviet Union
Businesswomen--History.--Soviet Union
Capitalism--History.--Soviet Union
Small business--History.--Soviet Union
Women merchants--History.--Soviet Union
History.
Soviet & East European History.
Womens Studies.
HISTORY / Russia & the Former Soviet Union.
Russian consumer trade, Russian free market economy, women traders in Russia.
HF3626.5 / .M844 2014
382.082/0947