Agriculture and the state in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia
By: Stephen K. Wegren.
Series: Pitt series in Russian and East European studies; Series in Russian and East European studies.
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Pittsburgh, Pa
Language: eng
Number of pages: 294
Subjects: Land reform -- Russia (Federation); Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Russia (Federation); Agriculture and state -- Russia (Federation)
Description: A comprehensive, original, and innovative analysis of the social, economic, and political factors affecting contemporary Russian reform, the book is organized around the central question of the role of the state and its effect on the course of Russian agrarian reform.

In the wake of the collapse of the USSR, contemporary conventional wisdom holds that the Russian state is "weak." Stephen Wegren feels that the traditional approach to the weak/strong state suffers from measurement and circular logic problems, believing that the Russian state, though weaker than in its Soviet past, is still relatively stronger than other actors. The state's strength allows it to intervene in the rural sector in ways that other power contenders cannot.

Wegren's research is based upon extensive field work, interviews, archival documents, and published and unpublished source material conducted over a six-year period, and he demonstrates the link between agrarian reform and the success of overall reform in Russia. This learned and often controversial volume will interest political scientists, policy makers, and scholars and students of contemporary Russia.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : agriculture and the state; title: State interventions in rural social policy during the Soviet period; title: Reform of the collective agricultural sector; title: Financial levers and the end of the social contract; title: Land reform and the development of private farming; title: Financial levers and the impact on private farming; title: The state and agrarian reform.