Many Shades of Red - State Policy and Collective Agriculture

This volume provides a radical and timely corrective to received wisdom about the seemingly inevitable transition from communism to capitalism. Arguing against popular misconceptions that portray collectivized agriculture as an unqualified failure, the contributors draw upon newly available local sources to illuminate its costs, benefits, successes, and failures. They highlight the wide variety of state policies, local responses, and economic outcomes, as well as the influence of local geography, political structures, and economic institutions. With its institutionalist analysis of both the causes and impacts of policy differences, this study provides lessons of continuing relevance to the many countries grappling with agrarian reform.

List of contents

Chapter 1: The Continuing Importance of Collectivization
Mieke Meurs
Chapter 2: Russia: Developing, then Crushing, Peasant Farming
Victor Danilov
Chapter 3: Bulgaria: From Cooperative Village to Agro-Industrial Complex, The Rise and Fall of Collective Agriculture
Mieke Meurs, Veska Kouzhouharova, and Rositsa Stoyanova
Chapter 4: Hungary: Cooperative Farms and Household Plots
Imre Kovach
Chapter 5: China: Farming Institutions and Rural Development
Justin Lin
Chapter 6: Cuba: Successful Voluntary Collectivization
Carmen Diana Deere and Niurka Perez
Chapter 7: Conclusion: Looking Forward
Mieke Meurs

About the author

Edited by Mieke Meurs

Summary

This text provides a corrective to received wisdom about the seemingly inevitable transition from communism to democratic capitalism. The contributors draw upon local sources to illuminate the costs, benefits, successes, and failures of co-operative agriculture.

Product details

• Assisted by: Mieke Meurs (Editor), Meurs Mieke (Editor)
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 24.02.1999
• EAN: 9780847690381
• ISBN: 978-0-8476-9038-1
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 235 mm x 20 mm
• Weight: 513 g
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Agribusiness, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Food Industry, Political structures: democracy, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Agriculture, agribusiness and food production industries, Central / national / federal government policies, Agriculture & Related Industries, Marxism & Communism, Central government policies