Transformation and Diversification of Rural Societies in Eastern Europe and Russia ed. by Osamu Ieda (review)

414 Рецензии/Reviews Najam ABBAS Osamu Ieda (Ed.), Transformation and Diversification of Rural Societies in Eastern Europe and Russia (Sapporo: Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University, 2002). ix+344 pp. ISBN: 4-938637-25-1. Rural postcommunist societies are still undergoing a transformation – one that varies widely even within single countries, partly as a result of the varied routes taken to reform agriculture. This book introduces the readers to the deeper dimensions of changes occurring in rural postcommunist societies. The contributions describe the difficulties experienced following the privatization of land and farming enterprises ; the changing employment and dwindling living standards; and as well as the effects of a near absence of services on rural life. Though the book’s twelve chapters институциональной базы, помимо пенсионного фонда имелось еще несколько слабо связанных между собой учреждений, которые несли ответственность за работу пен- сионной системы. Оставались неразграниченными полномочия между российскими регионами и федеральным центром. Согласно Чандлер, из-за сложной федера- тивной системы в посткомму- нистической России оказалось непростым делом создать после- довательную законодательную систему, построить эффективные правительственные институты и четко разграничить полномочия между разными правительствен- ными уровнями. Ко всему этому добавлялась еще и недостаточ- ность усилий, прикладываемых правящей элитой для решитель- ного шага в реформировании си- стемы пенсионного обеспечения. Безусловно, закономерности пенсионной реформы в 1990-е гг. было бы весьма сложно объ- яснить, выдвигая на передний план какой-либо один аспект. Чандлер не предлагает собствен- ного теоретического обоснования изменений, происходивших в социальной сфере в 1990-х гг., и обращается к уже известным и широко используемым факторам, повлиявшим на постсоветские реалии. Такой подход вполне со- ответствует требованиям эмпири- ческого исследования, но все же в работе хотелось бы видеть некий теоретический фундамент или хотя бы большую последователь- ность и четкую иерархичность в анализе тех движущих сил, кото- рые определили ход и результаты данной реформы. 415 Ab Imperio, 2/2006 ture equipment, fuel, and parts for mechanised farming and transport vehicles under privileged conditions. Secondly, the financial possibilities of an average rural family have substantially diminished, resulting in lowered living standards and depreciation of savings. Thirdly, the labor potential of a typical rural family has been practically exhausted and they are unable to work beyond a limited extent. There are apprehensions that if part-time farms are reclassified from the informal to formal sector of economy, it will bring further hardship to the rural population. Though the numbers of collective and state farms have been reduced, and forms of mixed ownership have emerged, there is a need to keep in mind the merit and the social price of such transformations. Following the reforms, the standard of living of both the urban and rural population has declined along with staple food consumption. A general increase has taken place in the consumption of potatoes and baked products. Malnutrition, among other factors, was negatively reflected in the state of public health, and in mortality rate and life expectancy figures. The wages of agricultural workers have remained lower than the national average, below the subsistence level and, even then, paid with several months’ delay. Additionally, the remunerations do not correspond to a worker’s contrichronicle the dimensions of change experienced in eastern European states, the framework of analysis can serve to draw comparisons with the Central Asian and other former Soviet states. Zemphira Kalugina, in “Rural Transformation in Russia: Inconsistencies and Results” touches upon the issue of food provision in the late twentieth century. During the course of the ongoing agrarian transformation and the partial disintegration of collective farming, the protracted and complicated character of the establishment of new economic forms in the agro-industrial complex and the role of part-time farming as the most flexible, steady, and self-regulatory entity has increased. However, citing factors like the public psyche, the level of industrial potential, the status of legislation, socio-political conditions in the country, and the time required for coping with the transition, Kalugina concludes that in the foreseeable future, autonomous farms will not become the dominant form of agricultural production in the Russian countryside. Kalugina’s comprehensive analysis attributes the reduction in agricultural production and the emergent trend of a decline in household output to several factors. The first is the dismantling of agriculture subsidies , under which collective farms had access to fodder, seed, agricul- 416 Рецензии/Reviews bution or qualifications. Privatized farms do not have the capacity to address the problems of their employees . Such circumstances have caused a loss of motivation toward professional quality, productivity, and efficiency, especially among rural youth who believe that the public sector lacks prestige. Though local governments are obliged to manage the social and cultural services of their localities, they continue to lack sufficient financial means and technological capabilities to deliver. This in turn contributes to the substantial worsening of social services provision in the rural areas. In their article, “Household Capital and Structural Change in Employment and Income in Rural Russia from 1991 – 1999,” David O’Brien and Valerii Patsiorkovski note that in the 1990s the rural sector in Russia (as elsewhere) underwent substantial changes in institutions and social organization. They attempt to identify long-term aggregate trends in economic behavior and emerging incremental institutional changes at the local level. Their contribution also examines differences between households and villages with respect to their abilities to take advantage of...