Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Russian term (plural arteli) for a type of cooperative. The origins of arteli are unclear, but they may have developed in those parts of Russia where severe weather made cooperation among tradesmen and craftsmen an absolute necessity within a pre-industrial economy. By the nineteenth century, they had become commonplace both in town and country, and in all manner of trades and crafts (e.g. fishing, transport, and portering). They frequently had their own hierarchy and rules of business. After the russian revolutions of 1917, the arteli were inevitably organized on a far more structured basis under the watchful eye of the Communist Party. ... log in or subscribe to read full text