The Peasant Question and the Russian Revolution
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Citizens-In-Training in the New Soviet Republic’ Gender & History, Vol.13 No.3 November 2001, Pp
05_Wood 08/10/2001 1:50 pm Page 524 (Black plate) Gender & History ISSN 0953–5233 Elizabeth A. Wood, ‘The Trial of the New Woman: Citizens-in-Training in the New Soviet Republic’ Gender & History, Vol.13 No.3 November 2001, pp. 524–545. The Trial of the New Woman: Citizens-in-Training in the New Soviet Republic Elizabeth A. Wood Our task consists in making politics accessible for every labouring woman and in teaching every [female] cook [kukharka] to run the government. – Vladimir Lenin, Third Congress of Soviets, 1918 The accusations were flying thick and fast against the defendant. She had pretensions to running the government and meddling in public affairs. She had taken part in strikes and demonstrations. She was trying to put all women on an equal footing with men. She had destroyed her own femininity, ceasing to be an object of beauty and pleasure for men, ceasing as well to raise her children and, instead, giving them into others’ hands. All these things, it was alleged, con- tradicted woman’s very nature, which was to serve as decoration in men’s lives. The setting was The Trial of the New Woman. The prosecution witnesses included a factory director, a lady secretary, a rich peasant, a priest, and a traditional family woman. The so-called ‘bourgeois’ court initially found the defendant guilty, but then workers appeared on stage, and her judges ran away. Her rights were restored, and she was recognised to be ‘equal to men in all respects’. This Trial of the New Woman was, of course, a mock trial, and the new woman herself emerged as the heroine of the play. -
Peasant Rebels Under Stalin This Page Intentionally Left Blank Peasant Rebels Under Stalin
Peasant Rebels under Stalin This page intentionally left blank Peasant Rebels Under Stalin Collectivization and the Culture of Peasant Resistance Lynne Viola OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS New York Oxford Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1996 by Oxford University Press, Inc. First published in 1996 by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1999 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Viola, Lynne. Peasant rebels under Stalin : collectivization and the culture of peasant resistance / Lynne Viola. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-510197-9 ISBN 0-19-513104-5 (pbk.) 1. Collectivization of agriculture—Soviet Union—History. 2. Peasant uprisings—Soviet Union—History. 3. Government, Resistance to—Soviet Union—History. 4. Soviet Union—Economic policy—1928-1932. 5. Soviet Union—Rural conditions. I. Title. HD1492.5.S65V56 1996 338.7'63'0947—dc20 95-49340 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper You have shot many people You have driven many to jail You have sent many into exile To certain death in the taiga. -
Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution India and the Contemporary World Society Ofthefuture
Socialism in Europe and II the Russian Revolution Chapter 1 The Age of Social Change In the previous chapter you read about the powerful ideas of freedom and equality that circulated in Europe after the French Revolution. The French Revolution opened up the possibility of creating a dramatic change in the way in which society was structured. As you have read, before the eighteenth century society was broadly divided into estates and orders and it was the aristocracy and church which controlled economic and social power. Suddenly, after the revolution, it seemed possible to change this. In many parts of the world including Europe and Asia, new ideas about individual rights and who olution controlled social power began to be discussed. In India, Raja v Rammohan Roy and Derozio talked of the significance of the French Revolution, and many others debated the ideas of post-revolutionary Europe. The developments in the colonies, in turn, reshaped these ideas of societal change. ian Re ss Not everyone in Europe, however, wanted a complete transformation of society. Responses varied from those who accepted that some change was necessary but wished for a gradual shift, to those who wanted to restructure society radically. Some were ‘conservatives’, others were ‘liberals’ or ‘radicals’. What did these terms really mean in the context of the time? What separated these strands of politics and what linked them together? We must remember that these terms do not mean the same thing in all contexts or at all times. We will look briefly at some of the important political traditions of the nineteenth century, and see how they influenced change. -
The End of Middle Class Politics?
The End of Middle Class Politics? The End of Middle Class Politics? By Sotiris Rizas The End of Middle Class Politics? By Sotiris Rizas This book first published 2018 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2018 by Sotiris Rizas All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-0654-1 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-0654-1 CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 What makes the middle classes? ............................................................ 8 The middle classes in mass politics: the lower middle classes as a bone of contention ................................................................... 10 Chapter One ............................................................................................... 23 Emergence of the Middle Classes and Middle Class Politics in America and Europe, 1890–1914 The middle classes and the Progressive Movement in America, 1900–14 .......................................................................................... 28 The public policies of Progressivism ................................................... 29 Middle-class -
Feudal Contract – Medieval Europe
FEUDAL CONTRACT – MEDIEVAL EUROPE Imagine you are living in Medieval Europe (500 – 1500). Despite the fact that a feudal contract is an unwritten contract, write out a feudal contract. You and a partner will take on the roles of lord and vassal: - You Need to Write Out the Contract: - The lord can have a certain title (i.e. duke/duchess, baron/baroness, or count/countess), and specify what social standing the vassal has (i.e. lower-level knight, peasant, etc.). - In your contract, specify how much acreage in land (fief) will be given to the vassal. - Specify how much military service the vassal will serve, and what kind of fighting they will do (i.e. cavalry, foot soldier…) - How much money will a vassal provide his lord if he is kidnapped, and if there is a ransom? How much will a vassal provide for one of the lord’s children’s weddings? (Specify money in terms of weight and precious metal such as “30 lbs. gold”). - Specify other duties from the readings (Feudalism HW and class handout) that will be done by a lord and vassal (i.e. the lord will give safety and will defend his vassal in court). - List any other duties a lord/vassal will do of your choosing. (i.e. farm a certain crop, make a certain craft) - Define feudalism, fief, knight, vassal, and serfs. - Sign and date your contract at the bottom to make it official, and make sure the date is between the year 500 and 1500. Example: Lord/Vassal Feudal Contract: I am a peasant (name of vassal) and will serve and be the vassal of (name of Lord/Duke). -
Peasantry and the French Revolution
“1st. What is the third estate? Everything. 2nd. What has it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing. 3rd. What does it demand? To become something therein.” -Abbe Sieyes 1789 Pre-Revolution • Louis XVI came to the throne in the midst of a serious financial crisis • France was nearing bankruptcy due to the outlays that were outpacing income • A new tax code was implemented under the direction of Charles Alexandre de Calonne • This proposal included a land tax • Issues with the Three Estates and inequality within it Peasant Life pre-Revolution • French peasants lived better than most of their class, but were still extremely poor • 40% worked land, but it was subdivided into several small plots which were shared and owned by someone else • Unemployment was high due to the waning textile industry • Rent and food prices continued to rise • Worst harvest in 40 years took place during the winter of 1788-89 Peasant Life pre-Revolution • The Third Estate, which was the lower classes in France, were forced by the nobility and the Church to pay large amounts in taxes and tithes • Peasants had experienced a lot of unemployment during the 1780s because of the decline in the nation’s textile industry • There was a population explosion of about 25-30% in roughly 90 years that did not coincide with a rise in food production Direct Causes of the Revolution • Famine and malnutrition were becoming more common as a result of shortened food supply • Rising bread prices contributes to famine • France’s near bankruptcy due to their involvement in various -
The Southern Italian Peasant: World View and Political Behavior
UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title The Southern Italian Peasant: World View and Political Behavior Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6b29j30j Journal Anthropological Quarterly, 34(1) ISSN 0003-5491 Author Cancian, F Publication Date 1961 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California THE SOUTHERN ITALIAN PEASANT: WORLD VIEW AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR' FRANK CANCIAN Cambridge, Massachusetts Despite the considerable attention that has been given to the family and community organization of the southern Italian peasant in the past few years' the sum of the available literature is as yet inadequate for accurate appraisal of many aspects of the peasant's culture. One of the fullest and most sharply focused of the reports that have appeared is Edward C. Banfield's The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (1958). Although the book contains much valuable information for the student of peasant society and culture, a major part of the analysis is open to serious question. In the light of the present lack of information on south- crn Italy, it seems particularly important to put certain additional facts and alternative interpretations on record. In his study of a village which he calls Montegrano, Banfield is specifically concerned with "what accounts for the political in- capacity of the village" (1958:31). By "political incapacity" he means the apparent lack of ability to form voluntary economic and political associations devoted to the benefit of the community as a whole or a part of it larger than the nuclear family. -
Petty Bourgeoisie’
Comments on the Term ‘Petty Bourgeoisie’ (S.H. — 4/28/19) Introduction First, I apologize for the length of this essay; as I got into the issue I kept thinking of additional aspects and related topics that should be mentioned. (Of course there are no doubt many more aspects not mentioned here!) And of necessity a discussion about how the petty bourgeoisie is defined must also discuss just how the proletariat and the bourgeoisie should be defined. These are not totally separate issues. Second, in this discussion I am not going to make any distinction between the various English and French spellings: I am taking the most common English term, ‘petty bourgeoisie’ to be the same thing as the ‘petit bourgeoisie’ and the ‘petite bourgeoisie’. Third, it is certainly true that the term ‘petty bourgeoisie’ is used in different ways by different people; i.e., it means different things to different people. Although some other conceptions will be mentioned, I am not setting out to catalog all the many different conceptions and to treat them all with equal validity, as a general lexicographical study would do in creating entries in a standard (bourgeois!) general-purpose dictionary. Instead, I am setting out to say 1) how I think the term has been used within Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory, and 2) how I think it should be used within that theory in the U.S. today. In other words, I am setting out to define a technical term within MLM theory, but to also talk about a number of additional issues that come up in this regard. -
The Long-Term Impact of the Communist Revolution on Social Stratification in Contemporary China
The long-term impact of the Communist Revolution on social stratification in contemporary China Yu Xiea,b,1 and Chunni Zhangc,1 aCenter for Social Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; bDepartment of Sociology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544; and cDepartment of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China Contributed by Yu Xie, August 5, 2019 (sent for review March 12, 2019; reviewed by Theodore P. Gerber and Donald J. Treiman) The Chinese Communist Revolution that culminated in the 1949 There are good reasons to suspect that these policies may not founding of the People’s Republic of China fundamentally trans- have worked. Bad-class citizens had relatively high levels of ed- formed class relations in China. With data from a nationally rep- ucation and enjoyed social and economic privileges prior to the resentative, longitudinal survey between 2010 and 2016, this revolution. It is well known that family socioeconomic status study documents the long-term impact of the Communist Revolu- (SES) has a significant influence on children’s educational out- tion on the social stratification order in today’s China, more than 6 comes in almost all societies (6, 7). Prior research has shown that decades after the revolution. True to its stated ideological mis- family SES has persistent large effects over time, and this is true sions, the revolution resulted in promoting the social status of even in Eastern European countries that experienced a transition children of the peasant, worker, and revolutionary cadre classes to socialism similar to that in China after World War II (7–9). and disadvantaging those who were from privileged classes at the Through both economic resources and noneconomic means, the time of the revolution. -
Note C Marx, Engels and the Peasant
NOTE C MARX, ENGELS AND THE PEASANT T HE attitude of Marx and of Marxists towards the peasantry has been the subject of a vast amount of controversy and misunderstanding. Thc core of Marxism was the analysis of the transition from capitalism to socialism. Capitalism was the crcation of the bourgeoisie, theruling dass of capitalist society; the socialist revolution which would be primarily the work of the proletariat would usher in a future society in which all dasses would hc merged and finally disappear. The peasantry as a dass was, on the other hand, a characteristic social form of the feudal order, and belonged neither to the world of bourgeois capitalism nor to that of proletarian socialism. When Marx, in the first volume of Cal'ital, embarked on his analysis of the capitalist order, using what was admittedly an abstract model and not the picture of any existing society, he found no place for the peasant or the small craftsman: these were not typical figures of capitalism, but incidental survivals of an obsolete or obsolescent social order. It was an essential part of this view that the peasantry, hearing the stigmata of its feudal origin, was a hackward element in contemporary society - back ward in relation not only to the capitalist bourgeoisie, hut also a fortiori to the proletariat. It followed that, where capitalism was most advanced, the peasantry as a dass was already in decay. In thc Commllnist Ma7'ifesto Marx, thinkillg primarily in terms of western Europe, treated the peasantry as doomed, Iike other petty bourgeois groups (he lumped together CI the small manufacturer, the shopkeeper, the artisan and the pe asant "), to disappear in the advancing torrent of large-scale capitalism. -
HER42 Economakis
Definition of the Capitalist Mode of Production: A Re-examination (with Application to Non-capitalist Modes of Production) George E. Economakis* Abstract: In this paper I attempt to review the theoretical criteria for definition of the capitalist mode of production, and thus of the capitalist and working classes, through an investigation of the Marxian analysis in Capital. I discover that the conceptual instruments of the original Althusserian tradition are indispensable for the purposes of this study. Finally, I use my research as the point of departure for a short review of non-capitalist modes of production under conditions of capitalist predominance, thereby, so to speak, testing the explanatory power and coherence of my analysis. 1 Introductory Admissions I take as my point of departure ‘that the mode of production refers exclusively to the core of class relations, not to the class relations as such’ (Milios 2000, p. 295). This implies that in my investigation I do not ‘classify modes of production according to the “dynamic” of the system as a whole’ (in Richards 1986, p. 9), as for example J. Banaji does (see 1976, 1977), but I classify modes of production according to their ‘matrix’. In a given social formation that ‘has a specific history, culture, economy and political organization’ (Goodman and Redclift 1982, p. 59) there may exist more modes of production and therefore a complex class configuration. Thus ‘a class analysis of….[a] society.…is based on analysis of the different modes of production’ (Milios 1999, p. 45). The articulation of different modes of production is always accomplished under the domination of one particular mode of production. -
Roman History the LEGENDARY PERIOD of the KINGS (753
Roman History THE LEGENDARY PERIOD OF THE KINGS (753 - 510 B.C.) Rome was said to have been founded by Latin colonists from Alba Longa, a nearby city in ancient Latium. The legendary date of the founding was 753 B.C.; it was ascribed to Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the daughter of the king of Alba Longa. Later legend carried the ancestry of the Romans back to the Trojans and their leader Aeneas, whose son Ascanius, or Iulus, was the founder and first king of Alba Longa. The tales concerning Romulus’s rule, notably the rape of the Sabine women and the war with the Sabines, point to an early infiltration of Sabine peoples or to a union of Latin and Sabine elements at the beginning. The three tribes that appear in the legend of Romulus as the parts of the new commonwealth suggest that Rome arose from the amalgamation of three stocks, thought to be Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan. The seven kings of the regal period begin with Romulus, from 753 to 715 B.C.; Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, from 534 to 510 B.C., the seventh and last king, whose tyrannical rule was overthrown when his son ravished Lucretia, the wife of a kinsman. Tarquinius was banished, and attempts by Etruscan or Latin cities to reinstate him on the throne at Rome were unavailing. Although the names, dates, and events of the regal period are considered as belonging to the realm of fiction and myth rather than to that of factual history, certain facts seem well attested: the existence of an early rule by kings; the growth of the city and its struggles with neighboring peoples; the conquest of Rome by Etruria and the establishment of a dynasty of Etruscan princes, symbolized by the rule of the Tarquins; the overthrow of this alien control; and the abolition of the kingship.