"Apparently, After all, There is Antagonism Between Russians and Chinese": the Chinese in Everyday Life of the 1920s Urals

The foundation of the study's source base consists of the funds of the "Chinese Worker" cooperative artel, held in the State Archive of Sverdlovsk Region. The author also used statistical materials and administrative records. The article examines the everyday life and socio-cultural integration of the Chinese community in the 1920s Urals through the lens of two organizations: the "Union of Chinese Workers" and the "Chinese Worker" artel. The "Union of Chinese Workers" functioned in the early 1920s with the goal of building interaction between the new authorities and the large Chinese community that had formed in the Urals during the first years of Soviet power. The "Chinese Worker" artel was created on a national basis for disabled Chinese Civil War veterans. Sources introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time indicate that the artel was established for political reasons and lacked economic viability. The Chinese themselves, who participated in it, also saw no need for it. Nevertheless, the artel became vital for the Chinese of the Urals, many of whom were destitute and lacking Russian language skills after the Civil War. The artel quickly became the center of the Chinese community. Sources also document instances of negative attitudes towards the Chinese and discrimination by local workers. The author argues that the short-lived existence of the "Union of Chinese Workers" and the "Chinese Worker" artel largely characterizes the Bolshevik policy of involving ethnic minorities in social life and cooperative forms of economy.