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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.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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2024. Vol.9. №2.

Is it possible to quickly eliminate labor shortage in Russian agriculture?

Jul 20 2024

Shagaida N. I. Is it possible to quickly eliminate labor shortage in Russian agriculture? // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2024. V.9. №2. P. 139-152.

DOI: 10.22394/2500-1809-2024-9-2-139-152

Annotation

In November 2023, the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut estimated the shortage of workers in agriculture at 200,0001, obviously implying agricultural organizations. According to Lut, one of the reasons for such a shortage is low salaries: the limited effective demand for products does not allow agricultural organizations to increase the selling price of produce, which limits the wages of agricultural workers. However, the number of people employed in agriculture declines almost everywhere — this is a common situation in many countries. On the one hand, this decline is determined by an increase in labor productivity, i.e., a reduction in the number of workers is the desired result; on the other hand, many agricultural enterprises suffer from the lack of needed workers. Therefore, it is necessary to understand why there is a shortage of agricultural workers in Russia, focusing on the details of this situation. Based on the Federal State Statistics Service’s data, the author considers this situation, in particular the number of employed in agriculture, main reasons for such a labor shortage in agriculture and national economy in general, possibilities and limitations of the reliance/ dependence on labor migrants (especially from the post-Soviet countries) and on unemployed in the Russian labor market, regional differences in the available workforce, finally providing some recommendations to change the current situation.

Keywords

Labor shortage, agriculture, agricultural organizations, wages, unemployment, labor migrants, regional differences.

About the author

Natalia I. Shagaida, DSc (Economics), Head of the Center for Agro-Food Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Vernadskogo Prosp, 82, Moscow, 119571.
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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