When people talk about the future of the village, they usually pin their hopes on cooperation… However, despite all of this, not everyone clearly understands its essence and is fully aware of its key ideas and organizational principles.
A. V. Chayanov
Today is the 134th anniversary of Aleksandr Vasilyevich Chayanov’s birth. He was an outstanding Russian sociologist, social anthropologist, agrarian economist and writer, founder of interdisciplinary peasant studies and the theory of peasant cooperation. The scientist was born on January 17 (29), 1888.
Peasant studies examine peasants, the rural way of life and agrarian development patterns. Aleksandr Chayanov’s book “Basic Ideas and Forms of Peasant Cooperation” occupies a special place among his works. In the book, which was written in 1918-1920, the scientist summarized all his earlier research studies and spoke about agriculture as a conglomerate of the most diverse economic forms and entities.
Chayanov's key scientific interests included peasant labor economy, cooperation, public agronomy and more. In all these areas, the scientist managed to achieve outstanding results that were acknowledged in foreign countries as well.
“Aleksandr Vasilyevich Chayanov’s personality cannot be evaluated and understood without good knowledge of his interests and life. Aleksandr Vasilyevich became part of the history of domestic and world science as an original thinker, deep researcher of key agrarian problems, creator of the theory of labor peasant farming, and outstanding theorist of cooperation. He was a major scientific professional and a brilliant teacher… “Chayanov’s heritage” becomes more relevant now when we revive our villages, switch to a multi-structural economy and develop many economic management forms,” writes Rector of Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy of the Russian State Agrarian University Galina Zorina.
The height of Aleksandr Chayanov's scientific activity fell on the 1920s. The scientist published his main scientific work “The Theory of Peasant Farm” in 1923 in Germany and in 1925 in Russia. In our country, this book was published under the title “Peasant Farm Organization.” In this work, Chayanov examined the theoretical and practical issues of agriculture.
Aleksandr Chayanov passed away on October 2, 1937, leaving behind a rich scientific heritage, discussions around which have not subsided to this day.
Based on open-source data.
Photo: rawpixel / 123RF
