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2024. Vol.9. №4.

“NEP crisis” in the northern village, or peasant “proletarianization” as a specific form of “de-peasantization” in non-agricultural regions in the interests of industrialization

Feb 10 2025

Troshina T. I., Morozova O. M. “NEP crisis” in the northern village, or peasant “proletarianization” as a specific form of “de-peasantization” in non-agricultural regions in the interests of industrialization // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №4. P. 122-143.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-4-122-143

Annotation

Issues of industrialization and collectivization in the northern regions of Soviet Russia have been well studied, with an emphasis on both positive and negative consequences. The article provides grounds for another discussion — of alternative forms of social, economic and political development of the country on the example of a particular territory. The authors focus on the role of the “NEP crises” in the final transition to the “forced industrialization”. There were two major crises — “crisis of sales” (1923– 1924) and “crisis of grain procurement” (1927–1928), which to a greater or lesser extent affected the transition to the planned economy. “Labor crisis” is less known: it broke out in the northern (forest) regions of the European North during the 1925/26 logging season and played a similar role in the industrialization of the Soviet timber industry. The essence of this “crisis” was the competition of logging organizations, which contributed to the peasants’ (loggers and rafters) refusal to conclude contracts, while waiting for more profitable offers. The semi-peasant economy of loggers allowed them to be quite independent from earnings in the forestry sector. Sabotage of loggers and refusal to fulfill already concluded agreements disrupted production plans and, thus, violating export obligations, especially of the “sluggish giants” (state trusts), and created prerequisites for the government measures for the planned organization of the workforce. The same applies to the “colonization” of the region, since the constant shortage of labor significantly increased the cost of export timber. There were increasingly more suggestions about regional specialization and, eventually, “proletarization” of the peasantry engaged in logging. These radical ideas under real problems took over rational economic managers’ minds. Negative results of the semi-state management in the resource territories during the NEP period led to the idea of five-year plans as the most promising and quickest way to solve all problems. Despite the persistent revolutionary enthusiasm with its ideas of freedom, practitioners agreed with the ideas of the 19thcentury entrepreneurs about forced labor. Sending administratively expelled peasants to settlements in forest areas and setting tough logging tasks for the local population, including collective farmers, were seen as the only way out of the crisis that is considered in the article as another “NEP crisis”.

Keywords

North European Russia, northern peasants, non-agricultural activities, “new economic policy”, industrialization, logging, labor shortage, forestry, forms of peasant protest, timber industry.

About the authors

Tatiana I. Troshina, DSc (History), Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Security, Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University; Department of Humanities, Northern State Medical University. 163 002, nab. Severnoy Dviny, 17,  Arkhangelsk.
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Olga M. Morozova, DSc (History), Professor, Department of Public Relations, Don State Technical University. 344000, Gagarina sq., 1, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
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2024. Vol.9. №4.

Progressive modernisation. The role of peasants in the industrialisation of North-Eastern Italy

Feb 10 2025

Celetti D. Progressive modernisation. The role of peasants in the industrialisation of North-Eastern Italy // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №4. P. 68-97.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-4-68-97

Annotation

The process of industrialization of North-Eastern Italy and, in particular the Veneto Region, spread widely outside urban centers, in agrarian territories historically characterised by a specific type of land use based on the harmonious coexistence of different cultures within individual smallholdings. This article focuses on the key shifts that allowed the wide spread of productive activities in rural areas and the active participation of the rural population in industrial production in the absence of significant migration flows in the direction of large industrial centers. The article is organized as follows: the first section analyses the scientific interpretation of the special path of regional modernization. Section 2 presents the main features of the traditional rural economy of North-Eastern Italy. Section 3 examines the changes in the sectoral structure of the regional economy during the period of industrialization. Conclusions summarize results and ongoing transformation of the Veneto regional economy, society and landscape.

Keywords

Economic development, north-eastern Italy, peasant family, traditional agriculture, industrialization, urbanization processes, industrial clusters.

About the author

David Celetti, PhD of Economics, Professor of Economic History, Department of Historical, Geographical Sciences and of the Ancient World, University of Padua, 30131 Padova, Via Vescovado 30.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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2023. Vol.8. №4.

The rise of the peasant land ownership as a driver of social-spatial differentiation in contemporary rural Veneto and French Flanders

Apr 09 2024

Khorasani Zadeh H. The rise of the peasant land ownership as a driver of social-spatial differentiation in contemporary rural Veneto and French Flanders // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2023. V.8. №4. P. 83-101.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2023-8-4-83-101

Annotation

The growth of peasant ownership in peasant societies is usually associated with a reduction in social hierarchies due to the improvement of social-economic conditions, decline of large-scale land ownership and development of small-scale agriculture. When qualifying such assertions, scholars have proved that the peasant ownership’s impact on the evolution of agriculture and social differentiation are highly variable depending on the social-historical contexts. The article aims at contributing to this debate by showing how the rise of peasant ownership may lead to contradictory dynamics in terms of social-spatial differentiation due to the so-called differentiated ‘relationship with land and kinship’ or ‘reproduction patterns’ of peasant families. To test this hypothesis, the paper examines two European rural areas located in Northern France and Veneto, focusing on the evolution of land ownership, tenancy, kinship and social-professional features in a sample of municipalities in these two areas from the mid-19th century to the end of the 20th century. In addition to the analysis of aggregated data at the municipal level, the author also considers the evolution of smaller areas in each municipality under study with the qualitative approach based on the ‘biography’ of some properties and holdings, individuals and families. The research relies on both public sources (population census, property cadasters, agrarian surveys, etc.) and private archives.

Keywords

Ownership, tenancy, agricultural holdings, kinship, family, space, social reproduction, mapping, industrialization.

About the author

Khorasani Zadeh Hessam, PhD (History), Postdoc Fellow, University of Lille. Cité Scientifique Campus, TVES Laboratory, Paul Langevin Avenue, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
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