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A serf is a laborer who is bound to the land. Serfs differ from slaves in that serfs cannot be sold apart from the land which they work.
History of serfdom
Serfs provided most of the labor in feudal society. They were peasants who
were bound to their land by debt. Although serfdom is most associated with the Middle Ages, in eastern European countries like Prussia,
Austria, Poland and Russia, rulers
strengthened serfdom in the seventeenth century, so that noble estates could produce more grain for the newly profitable export
market. In many of these countries, serfdom was abolished during the Napoleonic invasions of the early nineteenth century. But Russia retained the
practice until February 19, 1861. Parts
of Europe, including much of Scandinavia, never adopted feudal instutions, including serfdom.
Serfs in Imperial Russia
Traditionally, the term for a peasant of the epoch of feudalism in Imperial Russia, krepostnoi
krestyanin (крепостной
крестьянин), is translated as serf. However, a Russian
landowner eventually had gained an unlimited ownership over Russian serfs, including the right to sell and even to assign
marriages, so in fact they had eventually become slaves.
The roots of serfdom in Russia are traced to Ivan IV of
Russia, who introduced the first laws that restricted the mobility of peasants.
Modern usage
The word serf re-appeared in the late 20th century to refer to a wage slave working in a capitalist business enterprise. Note one memorable coinage: the noun
Microserf, which refers to employees of Microsoft Corporation, with the connotation that they become tied to that corporation, instead of the
land, and work long and hard for the benefit of their masters. (See for example the novel Microserfs by Douglas Coupland.) When owners
sell companies, modern serfs (or at least the jobs they perform) may get "sold" along with the companies for which they work in a
sense that the price of the company may significantly depend on its "brainpower", rather than on its property (material or
intellectual).
This kind of serfdom is also enforced by modern means of bondage in form of shares and
stock options: it is not uncommon that the right of their realization is
conditional on prolonged employment with the company.
See also
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