Agrarian policy of the USSR: results of the problem’s conceptualization in modern Russian historiography

Abstract

Background. The relevance of the chosen theme is determined by the need to understand the historical experience of the USSR on the eve of the 100th anniversary of its formation. The purpose of the study is a developing of the comprehensive concept of studying the agricultural policy of the Soviet leadership in 1922–1991. Materials and methods. The work analyzes the results of the Soviet agrarian policy research in Russian historiography. The corpus of sources forms the conceptual understanding of the problem presented in the works of historians. The research methodology is based on the principles of a systematic approach to the issues of the USSR economic policy history study in the modern era. In this key, the solution of the research task involves analyzing the activities of the Soviet leadership in the context of developing and implementing a systematic response to the external and internal challenges of the time. Results. In the course of the research, the key parameters of scientific ideas concerning the development of the agrarian policy of the Soviet state in 1922–1991 are identified, structured and generalized. A theoretical model was developed to explain the existence of polar assessments and judgments regarding the nature and goals of economic policy in the field of agriculture in the USSR. A comparative analysis of the argumentation was carried out in the framework of studying the factors of changing economic rates, the specifics of management methods and tools, and efficiency assessments. Conclusions. The systematization and analysis of the modern Russian historiography of the agrarian development of the USSR revealed the preservation of polarized and politicized concepts that explain the nature of the formation, specifics and results of the implementation of the megaproject of social engineering – the collectivization of agriculture. It was determined that the scientific search for a methodology will be an important condition for the development of an objective vision of the problem that creates a theoretical basis for the comparative analysis of the entire range of assessments and opinions.

Keywords

• ussr
• agrarian policy
• economics of stalinism
• soviet economic model
• modern russian historiography