Kryukova S. S.

Peasant Communities of the 1920s: from Imperial Law to Soviet Common Law P. 35-46.

UDC 94(47+57)«192»:340.141

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2020.68.3.004

 

The research investigates the transformation of peasant legal culture in Soviet pre-kolkhoz villages at the example of common law as a legal tradition. The relevance of the issue is predetermined, on one hand, by the fact that historical mechanisms of adopting a new Soviet legal system in Russia of the 1920s are largely underinvestigated and, on the other hand, by the fact that it is crucial to reinvestigate the paradigm of the legal development of Russia from the point of view of modern approaches to the interpretation of the phenomenon of common law. The author makes an attempt to analyze laws issued by the Soviet state during the first decade of its existence and archival documents. The investigation reveals a complex picture of Soviet legal system formation and its enrichment with common law principles traditionally supported by peasants. Pre-revolutionary traditions were willingly adopted by the new legal system. Peasants treated traditions as a protective mechanism guarding them against revolution-related distress and helping them to adapt to novel conditions of life and a new legal system. However, the growing contradictions between the older and younger generations, between men and women, between various land management practices aggravated social segregation and disrupted the traditional social uniformity of a peasant community.

law; land issues; peasant family; Soviet pre-kolkhoz villages; traditions; legal awareness; legal culture

 

 

 

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