The Post-Soviet Potemkin Village

Explains how the introduction of rural private property rights in Ukraine and Russia generated poverty.

Autorentext

Jessica Allina-Pisano is an Associate Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, and an Associate of the Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. She received her PhD in Political Science from Yale University, Connecticut.

Zusammenfassung
In the 1990s, the Russian and Ukrainian governments undertook a project to privatize the collective farms created under Stalin. Under the guise of benefiting former farm employees, the plan instead dispossessed millions of rural people and created a Potemkin village for the post-Soviet era.

Inhalt

Introduction: land reform in post-communist Europe; 1. Things fall apart; 2. Keeping the collectives; 3. The social origins of private farmers; 4. A return to regulation; 5. The politics of payment; 6. The facade; Conclusion: rural proletarians in the Potemkin village.