RETHINKING RURAL POLITICS IN POST- SOCIALIST SETTINGS Natalia Vitalyevna Mamonova 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 This dissertation is part of the project: ‘Land Grabbing in Russia: Large-Scale Inves- tors and Post-Soviet Rural Communities’ funded by the European Research Coun- cil (ERC), grant number 313781. It also benefitted from funding provided by the Netherlands Academie on Land Governance for Equitable and Sustainable Devel- opment (LANDac), the Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI), the Political Economy of Resources, Environment and Population (PER) research group of the Interna- tional Institute of Social Studies (ISS). This dissertation is part of the research pro- gramme of CERES, Research School for Resource Studies for Development. © Natalia Vitalyevna Mamonova 2016 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 the author. The cover image ‘Land grabbing in former Soviet Eurasia’ (2013) is an original water colour painting by the author, which was initially made for the cover page of the Journal of Peasant Studies Vol. 40, issue 3-4, 2013. ISBN 978-90-6490-064-8 Ipskamp Drukkers BV Auke Vleerstraat 145 7547 PH Enschede Tel.: 053 482 62 62 www.ipskampdrukkers.nl 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 RETHINKING RURAL POLITICS IN POST- SOCIALIST SETTINGS Rural Communities, Land Grabbing and Agrarian Change in Russia and Ukraine HEROVERWEGING VAN PLATTELANDSPOLITIEK IN POSTSOCIALISTISCHE OMGEVINGEN PLATTELANDSGEMEESCHAPPEN, LANDJEPIK EN AGRARISCHE TRANSFORMATIE IN RUSLAND EN OEKRAÏNE Thesis To obtain the degree of Doctor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam by command of the Rector Magnificus Professor Dr. H.A.P. Pols and in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board The public defence shall be held on Wednesday 23 November 2016 at 10.00 hrs by Natalia Vitalyevna Mamonova born in Zhytomyr, USSR 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Doctoral committee Promotores Prof.dr. M.N. Spoor Prof.dr. S.M. Borras Jr. Other members Prof.dr. J. Pallot, University of Oxford Dr. M. Arsel Dr. M.L. Schneider Co-promotor Dr. O. Visser 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Dedication Эта научная работа посвящается моему дедушке Шуляренко Максиму Николаевичу, который страстно любил науку и знания; который после убийства своего отца- помещика во время разгромов дворянских усадеб после революции 1917 г. отправился пешком в Киев – как Ломоносов – чтобы поступить там в университет. Этот человек прошел всю Великую Отечественную Войну от Москвы до Берлина и имел множество наград, в том числе ордена Красного Знамени и Отечественной Войны I, II, III степеней. Он всегда был примером для всех нас, его потомков. У него была мечта, чтобы его любимая дочь – моя мама – стала профессором в университете. Дочь не оправдала отцовских надежд, хотя большую часть жизни занималась наукой. Надеюсь, внучка оправдает. 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. AGRARIAN CAPITALISM AND RURAL POLITICS IN POST-SOCIALIST CONTEXTS AND BEYOND 1 1.1. THE PREFIX ‘POST-’ IN CRITICAL AGRARIAN STUDIES ON RURAL POLITICS 1 1.2. POST-SOVIET AGRARIAN CAPITALISM ‘FROM ABOVE’: NEW ORDER UPON OLD STRUCTURES 9 1.2.1. Transition to capitalism with limited social transformation 10 1.2.2. Incorporation of rural dwellers into large-scale agricultural development 13 1.2.3. Control grabbing and its main mechanisms 16 1.3. AGRARIAN CAPITALISM ‘FROM BELOW’ AND THE PEASANT QUESTION 19 1.3.1. Disappearance or persistence of the peasant mode of production in the post-Soviet countryside 21 1.3.2. Coexistence of peasant farming with capitalist agriculture 26 1.4. THE ROLE OF THE STATE 28 1.4.1. Understanding the state in Russia 31 1.4.2. Rural politics of the state 35 1.5. ADVOCACY POLITICS: RURAL RESISTANCE AND MOBILISATION 40 1.6. EVERYDAY RURAL POLITICS 46 1.7. METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN POST- SOCIALIST SETTINGS 51 1.7.1. Choice of fieldwork areas and primary data collection techniques 54 vi 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Contents vii 1.7.2. Secondary data and challenges in working with national statistical information 59 1.7.3. Fieldwork roles of the researcher and ‘situated knowledge’ production 61 NOTES 66 CHAPTER 2: OLIGARCHS, MEGAFARMS AND LAND RESERVES: UNDERSTANDING LAND GRABBING IN RUSSIA 72 2.1. INTRODUCTION 72 2.2. DOING RESEARCH ON LAND GRABBING IN RUSSIA: DATA RESOURCES 76 2.3. POST-SOVIET LAND REFORM: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INSECURITY 77 2.3.1. Post-Soviet land reform after 1991 77 2.3.2. High costs of land registration 79 2.4. THE MAGNITUDE OF LAND GRABBING AND THE TYPES OF ACTORS INVOLVED 80 2.4.1. Domestic investors 80 2.4.2. Foreign land acquisitions: a brief overview 83 2.5. MOTIVATIONS FOR LARGE-SCALE LAND DEALS: FINANCE AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE LAND RUSH IN RUSSIA 85 2.5.1. Motivations for large-scale land acquisitions 87 High subsidies 88 Speculation and land conversion 89 Pressure by the government 89 Tax evasion and money laundering 90 2.6. ABANDONED LAND, DYING VILLAGES AND INVESTMENT: DISCOURSE AND REALITY 90 2.6.1. The discourse of abandoned land 90 2.6.2. Is a win-win situation possible? 91 2.6.3. A critique of the discourse of abandoned land 92 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 viii RETHINKING RURAL POLITICS IN POST-SOCIALIST SETTINGS 2.7. LAND ACCUMULATION STRATEGIES 94 2.7.1. Land accumulation strategies within the framework of the legal system 95 2.7.2. Land accumulation outside the legal system 97 2.7.3. Countering illegal land acquisitions 100 2.8. THE STATE: POLICIES REGARDING FOREIGN LAND INVESTMENT AND LAND GRABBING 102 2.8.1. Attracting foreign investment 102 2.8.2. Policies to address illegal land grabbing 103 2.9. CONCLUSIONS 106 NOTES 110 CHAPTER 3: STATE MARIONETTES, PHANTOM ORGANISATIONS OR GENUINE MOVEMENTS? THE PARADOXICAL EMERGENCE OF RURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN POST-SOCIALIST RUSSIA 113 3.1. INTRODUCTION 113 3.2. POST-SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE AND ‘OPEN MOMENTS’ FOR THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 117 3.2.1. Land reform and the harsh transition period 117 3.2.2. Rise of interest in land and agriculture and the appearance of RSMOs 120 3.3. RURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT ORGANISATIONS IN RUSSIA 122 3.3.1. Government affiliates 126 3.3.2. Grassroots organisations 128 3.3.3. Political parties 131 3.3.4. Phantom movement organisations 135 3.4. CONCLUSIONS 137 NOTES 142 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Contents ix CHAPTER 4: NAIVE MONARCHISM AND RURAL RESISTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA 146 4.1. INTRODUCTION 146 4.2. THE THEORY OF NAIVE MONARCHISM 149 4.3. ELEMENTS OF NAIVE MONARCHISM IN SOVIET STATE-SOCIETY RELATION 152 4.4. CONTEMPORARY RURAL RUSSIA AND THE ‘MYTH OF THE TSAR- DELIVERER’ 153 4.5. APPLICATION OF NAIVE MONARCHISM IN RURAL RESISTANCE 158 4.5.1. Written petitions 158 4.5.2. Peasant pickets and khody 164 4.5.3. Named after Putin 167 4.6. CONCLUSION 169 NOTES 171 CHAPTER 5: RESISTANCE OR ADAPTATION? RESPONSES OF RURAL COMMUNITIES TO LARGE-SCALE LAND ACQUISITIONS IN UKRAINE 173 5.1. INTRODUCTION 173 5.2. THREE MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PEASANT RESPONSES TO LAND GRABS 176 5.3. UKRAINIAN AGRARIAN RELATIONS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION BEFORE LAND GRABS 179 5.4. LARGE-SCALE LAND ACQUISITIONS AND ‘TERMS OF INCLUSION’ OF RURAL POPULATION IN LAND DEALS 183 5.4.1. Illusive inclusion 185 5.4.2. Subordinate inclusion 187 5.4.3. Competitive exclusion 188 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 x RETHINKING RURAL POLITICS IN POST-SOCIALIST SETTINGS 5.5. HOUSEHOLD RESPONSE STRATEGIES AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION 189 5.5.1. Competition with LFEs (strategy S1) 191 5.5.2. Taking a free market niche (strategy S2) 192 5.5.3. Looking for employment opportunities (strategy S3) 195 5.5.4. Rural out-migration (strategy S4) 196 5.5.5. Indifference (strategy S5) 197 5.6. PERSONAL GAINS FROM LAND GRABBING VERSUS COMMUNITY BENEFITS 198 5.7. DISCUSSION OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS’ GENERALISABILITY 200 NOTES 203 CHAPTER 6: ‘QUIET FOOD SOVEREIGNTY’ AS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY WITHOUT A MOVEMENT? INSIGHTS FROM POST-SOCIALIST RUSSIA 208 6.1. INTRODUCTION 208 6.2. RURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN RUSSIA 210 6.3. STUDYING FOOD SOVEREIGNTY WITHOUT A MOVEMENT: ANALYTICAL TOOLS 211 6.4. POST-SOCIALIST AGRARIAN REFORM AND THE SOVIET LEGACY OF SYMBIOSIS 214 6.5. QUIET FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: DISCOURSES, IMPORTANCE, AND QUIETNESS 216 6.5.1. Discourse on smallholder farming by state and agrobusiness 216 6.5.2. Productivity, sustainability, and localness 217 6.6. THE ‘QUIET’ DISCOURSE OF SMALLHOLDERS THEMSELVES 219 6.7. THE POLITICAL DIMENSION OF QUIET FOOD SOVEREIGNTY 221 6.8. PRECONDITIONS FOR AN EMERGING FOOD SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT 224 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 Contents xi 6.9. CONCLUSIONS 226 NOTES 228 CHAPTER 7: WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS? RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS, GENERALISABILITY, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 230 7.1. GENERALISABILITY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS WITHIN THE POST-SOVIET POST-SOCIALIST CONTEXT 231 7.2. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CRITICAL AGRARIAN STUDIES DEBATES 236 7.3. DISCUSSION ON POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH FINDINGS, AND ENGAGED RESEARCH PRACTICES 241 7.4. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 244 NOTES 250 APPENDICES 252 Appendix 1 Questionnaire for household survey conducted in Ukraine in 2012 252 Appendix 2 Example of an information sheet, which was distributed to all participants of the research 257 Appendix 3 Fieldwork photos 259 REFERENCES 281 505017-L-bw-Mamanova Processed on: 6-9-2016 List of Tables, Figures, Maps and Appendices Maps The fieldwork sites 55 Tables Land transactions (sale and lease) in Russia (2006-2009) 83 Characteristics of organisational types within Russia’s rural social movement 123 Key themes of the analysed petition texts 159 Household response strategies to land grabs and their outcomes in Ukraine.