The Red and the Green: The Rise and Fall of Collectivized Agriculture in Marxist Regimes

Reorganizing the agricultural sector into large-scale state and collective farms was the most radical transformation of economic institutions implemented by Marxist governments. Frederic Pryor provides perspective on this unique experiment by comparing in a systematic and original fashion the changes in the organization of agriculture in all of the world’s Marxist nations. This approach allows not only a clearer understanding of the major lines of agricultural policy and organization in these nations but also a keener insight into the reasons underlying the variations among them. What have been the doctrinal elements that have led to collectivization? Why has the process of collectivization been so different in various nations? How have the farms been organized, both internally and within the larger economy? How has the performance of agriculture differed between the various Marxist nations and comparable capitalist nations? And what are the difficulties in reversing collectivization and moving back toward private agriculture? In answering these questions, The Red and the Green draws on a vast number of primary and secondary sources from many nations, as well as from extensive interviews with farmers, agricultural officials, and specialists in more than a dozen Marxist nations. Among books dealing with problems of communist economy, this study is unrivaled in its broad scope, combined with careful institutional and statistical analysis.

Originally published in 1992.

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