Institute for Economic Research, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Primorsky Laboratory for Economic Development and Cooperation, Head)
Olomouc, Czech Republic
The article examines the routine/everyday resistance practices of Koryo Saram in imperial Russia, early and late Soviet Union. The author follows the paradigm proposed by J. Scott while rejecting his idea of the coherence of the state. In so doing, the author demonstrates how informal economic practices of Koryo Saram (gobonji, bazaar trade, production of "Korean salads") were linked to other forms of everyday resistance. The paradoxical "other form," in Soviet times, was shock labor, which was surprisingly combined with the persistent use of traditional Korean land cultivation practices (bureaucrats used the term "Asian mode of production"). The article is divided into two parts; the first one discusses how Russian imperial officials, military officers, and agronomists treated Asian agrarian techniques, and attempts to answer the question of whether the imperial Russian Far East was Scott's "Zomia" for Koreans. The paper is based on archival data, academic and journalist publications on Koryo Saram, and the author's field data.
Russian Koreans (Koryo Saram), routine/everyday resistance, informal economy (gobonji, bazaars), traditional knowledge (Nongsa chiksǒl, fermentation), "soviet soybean revolution", soybeans
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