State Agricultural Farms in (Post)Socialist Poland: Legal and Imaginary Rights to Possess.

Abstract (English)

State Agricultural Farms (PGRs) were established in Poland in 1949. Since the socialist idea of agricultural collectivization failed to be fully implemented (a unique case among Eastern Bloc countries) and was eventually abandoned in the 1950s, state farms became the pillars of the communist agricultural system in Poland. As such, they were eliminated following the collapse of communism in the 1990s. Over more than four decades of operation, PGRs underwent various transformations, including changes in their organisational structure and work arrangements. However, the nature of work performed by the vast majority of employees remained unchanged, as it merged the labour of farmers and the labour of factory workers. These positions were typically accompanied by a broad benefits package that included housing, access to canteens, kindergartens, schools, and holidays.
The introduction of a ‘new capitalist order’ into the previously nationalized sector brought about complex and long-term consequences through the processes the restructuring and privatization, such us increasing unemployment and community impoverishment. In many cases, these transformations resulted in the division of the farms into several parts, and sometimes to the paradoxical coexistence of various ownership rights within what was once a single property— including private, state, and local government ownership.
Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in selected ‘post-PGR’ communities, I will focus on the practices and narratives of community members in relation to the privatization process initiated 30 years ago. I will analyze the conflicts and alliances that emerge within and between the various social groups currently inhabiting ‘post-PGR’ areas, as well as the intersecting legal and imaginary rights to possess and control property. I am particularly interested in the tensions and potentialities between the common perception of post-farm areas —as unified, socially owned entities rooted in the past—and their current, ‘dispersed’ condition.