Preliminary Programme

The first quarter of the XX century is one of the most dynamic periods in the history of the country. The chain of acute social and political events (including several wars and revolutions) ultimately resulted in a radical consequences for Russia. It concerns in particular the sharply increased migration activity of the population, about three-fourths of which at that time were peasants. One of the most informative sources to study migration flows of that period is the USSR population census of 1926.
The results of this census, which characterize the size and composition of the population of the USSR on December 17, 1926, were published in 56 volumes. The publication has been divided into seven sections. For our purposes, the most interesting is section III ("Family composition. Place of birth and length of stay. Lame"), the proceedings of which were published in the volumes ? 35-51. Data on the intensity of migration flows are derived from the summary of responses to the 6th and 7th questions of the individual census form ("Where were born: here or not; if not here, then where and how long he/she has lived here?"). Table III of the section of census publications ("The natives of other regions of the birth place. Results by social groups") presents those data in the form of a matrix containing the numbes of migrants for each pair of regions.
Useful information on migration flows is also contained in the source tables "Population by length of residence, ethnicity, employment status and sector of the economy" and "Non-natives living permanently in the location fixed by census, by place of birth and place of residence". In the introduction to the publication of the Section III census the main objectives of these tables are characterized as follows: a) the study of the directions of migration flows within the country, b) the identification of centers that attract people, and c) the identification of areas that are attracted to these centers.
This source has important features: 1) the data is actually summarizing the development of migration processes in the country (especially in the previous quarter of a century), allows us to study migratory population flows without artificial rupture of the temporary cut of October 1917, 2) the data section "Natives of other areas on the place of birth. Summary of social groups "covers the country, allowing to overcome the local scope of the study, 3) the inputs and outputs of each migration flow are clearly documented by indication of a respective pair of regions.
Proceedings of the 1926 Census summarize the results of the mechanical movement of the population within the territorial limits of the Soviet Union , approximately covering thirty-years period (1926 census put the number at about 90% of "non-indigenous natives" who have changed their place of residence after 1897 Census). A characteristic feature of this period is the high level of migration activity of the population. This period is actually completing a long-term phase of the natural development of migration processes in Russia/USSR.
We use statistical methods (aggregation of graphs) and GIS to study and present the structure of peasants’ migration flows in Russia/USSR in the first quarter of the 20th century.
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One of the main sources for reconstructing occupational structure of a region is censuses. To reconstruct occupational structure of Siberian population of the late 19th c. the author used aggregated occupational data of 1897 Census. The programme of 1897 Census data development had a unique two-level classification of occupations: 65 groups and 390 types of occupational activity. Such incompletely developed model of occupational structure (due to the absence of general and detailed levels) turned out improper for any research. To broaden research opportunities and reconstruction of Siberian population occupational structure the author introduced universal models based on level data management and providing for their comparability, namely international classifications of occupations HISCO and PST. Occupational structure models based on international classifications HISCO and PST have similar principles of structuring and coding occupational information, but reflect different approaches to occupational data analysis: HISCO – functional, PST – economical.
Basing on the 1897 Census data the author calculates an employment rate of Siberian population, counts ratio of those employed in different occupational groups for urban and uezd population taking into account gender aspects. HISCO and PST models were used together and complemented each other. Comparison of different classification models demonstrated parallel intense development of industrial sphere and service sector. However, the general thing in occupational structure of Siberian population presented in PST and HISCO models was the dominant number of those employed in the primary sector of economy (PST), agriculture in particular (HISCO) . The occupational structure of Siberian cities has distinct difference from that of rural territories. Firstly, both occupational structure models reflect more varied labour market in Siberian cities. For instance, male population was more active in all spheres. Secondly, the structure of female employment less than in rural territories concurs with the male one. “Leading” positions in terms of the employed according to both occupational structure models in Siberian cities are held by the tertiary sector and the service sphere. The use of universal international systems of occupational classification (PST and HISCO) as models for reconstruction of Siberian population occupational structure let the author broaden the opportunities of aggregated 1897 Census data use as well as find out some peculiarities of the employment structure of Siberia.

Special interest for researchers is the spacial analysis of occupational data of the Siberian region. Apart from employment structure the geoinformation system will make it possible to cover sociodemographic characteristics of occupational categories (sex, age, nationality, literacy. etc.) i.e. to make thematic maps reflecting employment peculiarities of different regions. Special attention is paid to the use of international classifications of occupations (HISCO and PST-system) in geoinformation system.
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The Yamal peninsular used to be part of the Obdor region of northwestern Siberia and is unique for its remoteness, severe climate conditions, low population density and relatively slow development of Russian settlement. Its status as a compact, semi-autonomous and relatively isolated territory makes it special among Russian territories.
In the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries several outstanding scholars conducted field research among the indigenous peoples of Yamal, collecting valuable information on economy, social forms and culture of the Obdor’s indigenous populations. However, the Ural expedition of the Polar Census in 1926 and 1927 gave universal survey of every Obdor household. The enumerators recorded extensive data on the everyday life of Obdor indigenous peoples on the eve of the dramatic social changes imposed by Soviet power from the late 1920s.
The paper will make use of the primary records of several census takers working in the Obdor region: household lists; descriptions of trading-posts (blanki factorii); schedules of individual family budgets (biudzhetnye blanki); along with ethnographic narratives and photo materials in order to reconstruct family forms among the ethnic groups of the Obdor region. This includes case studies of the Nenets and Khanty peoples with polygamy and extended kinship.
Polygamous marriages were a distinguishing feature of Obdor region families. Although the Orthodox Church prohibited them, not all of the population was baptized and some people held onto their traditions. The surviving materials show the existence of three such families registered either as Samoeds or Samoedified Ostiaks. In all three cases men were married to two women. The significant age difference between the husband and older wife can be explained by the fact that either the men themselves or their parents, preferred that they marry experienced women who were able to run the household. Also, according to the ethnographic descriptions men were often responsible to care for a widow in the event of the death of his elder brother.
It is often stated in the literature that Samoeds were a privileged ethnic group in the territory of the Obdor region. This can be seen from the data on the composition of mixed families. Samoed women rarely married Ostiak men (Golovnev 1995; Perevalova 2004). Meanwhile, the surviving household cards show the existence of such families. The first names of both the household heads and their wives and children suggest that they had been baptized. As a hypothesis, religious identity was a more important criterion in the choice of a spouse than traditional identities. I aim to substantiate these preliminary findings in additional census-like materials.
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The modern study of family history deals with two main areas: 1) statistical-based analysis of the main principles governing the formation and development of the family structure and family processes; 2) longitudinal reconstruction of the history of individual families. These methods are often combined.
Family demography studies are based primarily on vital registers, census data and records of population movement. Individual family history research relies primarily on personal sources as well as the materials of the current demographic population registers and other register systems (house registers, household books etc.)
Census-like and survey type source material can be presented in the form of databases implemented to make research with both approaches. The main content of the database is the information of current demographic developments. The civil status acts are of excellent quality and with an information structure that allows to compare records from different years on key fields, to point out family ties and relationships. Additional sources to create a database are the house registers (“domovye knigi”, in the cities) and household books (“pohozyaystvennye knigi”, in rural areas). As part of the civil registration system in the community they provide an opportunity to trace the history of the family during the period of its staying in one place, including the major migratory movements of its members. Though the sources are of high quality, they are dispersed and stored mainly in the institutions where they were created. The process of transfer to the archives of registers from 1920s to 1940s began in recent decades.
A main source for the family demography study are the Soviet census materials. The most informative Census 1926 takes into account household composition, duration of marriage and housing. However, primary, nominative forms of this and subsequent censuses seldom survived. However, in the regional archives, including the archive of the Sverdlovsk region, there are separate series of primary manuscripts.
Systematic information on family history is contained in the primary materials of budget statistics. In 1932 the Soviet Union established a permanent budget network, which in 1969 covered 62 000 families. It had been built on the principle of random sample and was constant, i.e. most of the families took part in the survey for several years, sometimes decades. Primary budget survey forms are preserved in regional archives from the 1950s to1980s and allow us to reconstruct the life-cycle of a family with the demographic, economic and consumer aspects.
Family processes in different social groups in Soviet society are reflected in the Communist Party, trade union, professional population registrations (“partiynaya perepis’”, “profsoyuznaya perepis’”, “professionalnaya perepis’” etc.) which were particularly often in 1920-1930-ies. For example the primary forms of the Communist Party Registration 1922 contain information on the social origin and nationality of the communist, his marital status, the number of dependents and employees in his family.
Although census-like and survey type source materials preserved in Russian archives are characterized by diversity and high data capacity, they cannot be integrated into a single information resource nationwide because of their fragmentary nature. Only the study of individual local communities (administrative units), where the minimum necessary series of documents survived is possible.
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