Its about the appearance of serfdom in the early modern era, just as western Europe was freed from it, which in turn is partly driven by population-density. Th

Its about the appearance of serfdom in the early modern era, just as western Europe was freed from it, which in turn is partly driven by population-density. This is far from a new idea BTW, and largely drove the abolition of these institutions in the 19th century (it largely came from the top, not as a result of great rebellions). Here is a nice and short explanation from Paul Krugman: "my old teacher Evsey Domar wrote a classic paper arguing that serfdom and slavery often were the response of ruling classes to labor shortage. Thus Russia imposed strict restrictions on the mobility of peasants from the late 16th century onward, precisely because the availability of rich new farmland on the expanding frontier would otherwise have increased their bargaining power against landlords. (The frontier expansion itself was probably the result of the growing effectiveness of firearms, which turned the military balance against the steppe nomads; so gunpowder, which contributed to the rise of the bourgeoisie in the West, created serfdom in the East). And, of course, slavery - which, along with serfdom, had died out in the West during the labor-abundant high Middle Ages - was reintroduced in the land-abundant conditions of the New World." http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/Serfdom.htm http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/Serfdom.htm Darren Asemoglu's and Robinson's "Why nations fail" in turn go on in length about effects of repressive economic and political institutions to economic growth. Forms of serfdom and slavery were (re)introduced around the same time in the Muscovite state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, the Ottoman Empire and even the Cossack Hetmanate which had roots in anti-serfdom rebellion had a form of serfdom.