Ecological neo-Narodnism and the peasant economy: history and contemporary relevance

Based on the ecological utopianism of Narodnik thinkers, this article assesses the programmatic concept of ecological neo-narodnism, as put forth by Martinez-Alier (1987), addressing (1) to what extent it conforms to the intellectual legacy of the Narodniki? (2) what are its main theoretical foundations and policy recommendations for a peasant economy in the 21st century? and (3) how it contributes to contemporary social and environmental challenges. It explores in detail the ecological economic theories which can be applied to the peasant economy according to the ideology of ecological neo-narodnism, the latter analyzed from the perspectives of the fields of political economy and political ecology. Peasant movements are addressed as the manifestation of such a worldview. Finally, the contributions of ecological neo-narodnism to overcome current social and environmental challenges are discussed and associated with economic degrowth.

RESEARCH ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL FARMERS’ ECONOMIC SALES CHANNELS: A CASE STUDY OF QINGYUAN, GUANGDONG AND HUALIEN, TAIWAN

In order to meet the demand of sustainable development of agriculture, we should enhance the competitiveness of small-scale peasant economy, grasp the business channels, grasp the business opportunities, and expand the new development of agriculture by strengthening and integrating the sales channels of agriculture. Sales channels have a positive impact on the development of small-scale farmers' economy. Hualian Changliang organic group develops through diversified channels such as school nutrition lunch, farmer's market, chain supermarket and farmer's direct selling station, so as to improve the sales volume of agricultural products and expand the new development of small-scale peasant economy. Through in-depth interviews, the sales channels of Qingyuan Bailijin Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. are mainly divided into online and offline Channel, offline distributors are directly used for distribution, while ‘Wechat’ is used for online sales. The diversified development of channels has a certain impact on the sales volume of agricultural products. The development of small-scale peasant economy in Hualian and Qingyuan depends on the expansion of sales channels. The establishment and deepening of diversified online and offline sales channels affect the development of small-scale peasant economy and the sustainability of agricultural development.

Features of formation of distribution marketing channels of agricultural production of personal peasant economy (PF)

The article considers the peculiarities of the formation of marketing channels for the distribution of agricultural products PF and identifies strategic directions for their development. The urgency of studying this issue is due to ambiguity in the development of sales activities of PF, on the one hand, their role in shaping the supply of agricultural products, and on the other - complicated sales process and lack of appropriate distribution infrastructure, which does not contribute to their effective development. It is proved that the absence of a single conceptual apparatus for the definition of the distribution channel and the composition of its functions significantly complicates the interaction of scientific developments and practical approaches to the organization of distribution of agricultural products. It is reasonable to consider under the marketing channel an orderly sequence of organizations that perform one or more functions necessary to ensure the ability to purchase products by the end consumer in a convenient place, time, in the required quantity and quality at minimal cost. The main difficulties in organizing the supply of agricultural products PF on the basis of a survey of rural households, including the following: lack of planning in production and marketing activities, episodic and spontaneous trade, its toning, lack of long-term cooperation with processing enterprises, lack of civilized infrastructure and distribution. The peculiarities of the functioning of the main channels of distribution of agricultural products of PF - trade and intermediary structures, retail and food markets, places of spontaneous trade, dairy and meat processing enterprises, procurement organizations are highlighted. The main difficulties in the development of economic relations of farms with processing enterprises and procurement organizations are substantiated: low prices, lack of partnerships that would provide "supplier development", not an objective definition of quality, and so on. In order to support targeted sales activities by peasant households, tools have been proposed to stimulate the development of sales marketing cooperatives, local wholesale and distribution centers with units for the organization of agricultural products from PF and to establish scientific and advisory support for business-type sales activities. higher agricultural education and a network of regional research centers. Key words: marketing distribution channels, personal peasant economy, agricultural products, elements of distribution infrastructure.

An Intellectual and a Peasant in Gleb Uspensky’s Cycle “Peasant and Peasant Labor”: Dynamics of Interaction in Context of Idea of “Merging with People”

The cycle of essays by G. I. Uspensky “The Peasant and the Peasant Labor” in the aspect of the actual for Russian literature of the second half of the XIX — early XX centuries problems of relations between the people and the intellectuals are analyzed in the article. The crisis in the study of the “peasant” cycles of Uspensky, caused by the predominance of ideological interpretation, is stated. It is argued that Uspensky finds the key to understanding the peasantry not in the socio-economic conditions of his life, but in the field of aesthetics. The point of convergence, in which the peasant and the intellectual appear as equal subjects of communication, is, according to Uspensky, the aesthetic attitude to work. An implicit correspondence is established between peasant labor and the creative effort of the artist. Therefore, the intellectual turns out to be a necessary mediator in the process of the peasantry acquiring its own “voice”. It is proved that the aesthetic utopia in the cycle “Peasant and Peasant Labor” was crushed by the ethical maximalism of the writer. The peasant economy is represented by the Uspensky reasonably organized order, the anthroposphere, in which the working peasant was likened to the monarch and the Creator. In turn, the intellectual was declared an impostor, marked by the “antichrist” seal. In Uspensky’s creative consciousness, the aesthetic and ethical found themselves in a tragic and hopeless contradiction, and the prospect of “merging with the people” was illusory.

"A hard and hungry life has come": combating hunger in the Yaroslavl village during the Civil war (based on the materials of P. V. Bugrov’s diaries)

The paper analyzes the diaries of the Yaroslavl peasant P. V. Bugrov, dating back to the first third of the XX century, which are a valuable historical source for reconstructing the everyday life of the peasant community. They show the catastrophic impact of wars and revolution on the peasant economy and present individual and collective practices of survival in conditions of hunger and unstable socio-political situation. Analysis of diaries allows us to conclude that the peasant economy continues to exist even in extremely unfavorable conditions and provides life to its members through a variety of ways to overcome hunger.

SOCIO-POLITICAL PRECONDITIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS IN WESTERN UKRAINE

In the second half of the XIX century Western Ukrainian lands suitable for agricultural development could not provide their inhabitants with adequate well-being. Moreover, famine often prevailed in the region, and poverty raged. Ukrainians, who made up the majority of the rural population of the region, were particularly affected: almost 80% [7, p. 4]. Government statistics at the time tried to prove that all conditions were created for Western Ukrainian peasants to ensure their well-being. At the same time, for example, the following figures were used: peasants owned 62.2% of the land area, while large landowners, mostly Austrians, Poles, Germans, Jews and other peoples, only 37.8% of agricultural land. It would seem that Ukrainian peasant farms, which had the majority of arable land in their use, could prosper. However, the other side of this statistic was not mentioned: first of all, it was hidden that the best lands belonged to the owners of large farms. In addition, there were 3,734 communities in the areas used by the majority of peasants. Therefore, if we compare the size of the area of a large landowner and the average peasant economy, the peasant economy was 320 times smaller than the agricultural land of a large landowner. At the end of the 40s of the XIX century in almost all European countries the economic crisis deepened, mass strikes began. Governments became increasingly helpless, unable to control the situation. Political demands began to be put forward more and more often to the economic demands of the workers and peasants. The spirit of revolution hovered in the air. And soon it began. The revolutionary events that swept Europe in the spring of 1948 brought the peoples of Europe hope for a better future. The consequence of this revolutionary upsurge was the abolition of serfdom in the Austrian Empire, which also ruled Western Ukraine. First of all, the Ukrainian intelligentsia, which was based on priests, teachers, and lawyers, began active social and political work. However, the majority of the population still stayed away from politics: neither its general education nor their financial situation contributed to participation in the national movement. That is, the «Spring of Nations» still did not contribute to the «mass, widespread awakening of the national consciousness of the Ukrainian people of Galicia, Bukovina, Transcarpathia» [17, p. 15]. This required a lot of effort, first of all to inform the nation competently and politically about what educated people had to do [22].

The Theory of Peasant Economy and Involution and De-involution

Today, thirty-five years after this author first wrote about involution, and at a time when that term and concept have come to be commonly used by many people, this article revisits that term to explain more clearly and succinctly its meaning and also to add to it contributions made by other scholars as well as by this author’s own further research, including new research on the de-involution of the past few decades in China, and analyses of the mechanisms and theoretical logics contained therein. Because China’s peasant economy has been the longest-lasting and largest in the world, perhaps also the most highly involuted, and its recent changes, including de-involution, make up the most dramatic example of the modernization of a peasant economy, it serves to explain most clearly the principles and mechanisms of change, and shows just how different those are from the Western historical experience of transition from feudalism to capitalism. Furthermore, peasant economy, not just in China but also in many other developing countries, has been the source most recently of the rise globally of an enormous informal economy—of labor that has little or no legal protection or benefits, according to the definition of the International Labor Organization—now reaching one-half to three-quarters of all urban employment in many developing countries, and more in China than anywhere else. That too is directly connected to the peasant economy and its background of involution and de-involution. At the moment, China’s future direction on this matter is at once full of uncertainties and of exciting promises.