Economic Aspects of the Development of Civil Society Institutions in the Late Imperial Period on the Example of the Smolensk House of Diligence

The study of the history of charity makes it possible to more accurately identify the initial period of the creation of the foundations of civil society in Russia. The article is devoted to the analysis of the activities of the Smolensk House of Diligence as an example of charitable practice in the Russian Empire of the late XIX – early XX century. Using a specific example, the author examines the history of the creation and development of houses of diligence in the regional plane, their role in public life and their influence on the formation of basic narratives of civil society in the imperial reality of that period. Special attention is paid to the analysis of economic aspects within the framework of the Smolensk House of Diligence and their role in the formation of new principles of “non-pedigree” communication in the society of post-reform Russia. The study allows the author to conclude that the study of projects such as the activities of charitable societies through the prism of economic history makes it possible to more fully assess them in the context of the power aspirations of local social groups and the importance of these actors in the formation of civil society in the late Imperial period.