Villagers and Dachniki in Post-soviet Russia: A Complex Relation

Nathalie Ortar (1)

1 LET - Laboratoire d'économie des transports

One of the consequences of de-collectivisation in Russia has been an increase in the number of dachas. Several forms coexist in the villages: inherited old peasant houses (isba), old houses bought by workers or employees, new houses built by wealthy people, but they are all dachas since they are used as second homes. The owners of those houses are working in towns and come only for their vacations and/or, when they do not live too far, during the week-ends. They are either native to the village or its surroundings (either themselves or their parents), or came by way of relationships with other dachniki or villagers.
Dachas influence the organisation of time of the dachniki and their conception of life and family. If gardening and the upkeep of the dacha consume most of the dachniki's time, they also interact a lot with other dachniki and villagers. The nature of the exchanges can be economic or cultural. Dachniki interact with the rural world and change it. The needs of the dachniki create new job opportunities for the villagers, but they also influence the way villagers look at their cultural heritage.

Mots clés: espace rural; datcha; résidence secondaire; Russie; dacha; rural transformation; cities; allotment; Russia

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Nathalie Ortar. Villagers and Dachniki in Post-soviet Russia: A Complex Relation. Maarit Heinonen, Jouko Nikula, Inna Kopoteva, Leo Granberg. Reflecting Transformation in Post-socialist Rural Areas, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 18 p., 2007. ⟨halshs-00151081⟩