scholarly journals Five-year plan in four: kolkhoz propaganda in film and documentaries in Estonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 10002
Author(s):  
Martti Veldi ◽  
Simon Bell ◽  
Friedrich Kuhlmann
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Collective Ownership ◽  
Collective Effort ◽  
Collective Farming ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
Post War ◽  
Opera Singers

In 1951 the first colour film in was produced Soviet Estonia–Valgus Koordis (“Light in Koordi village”). This never-before-seen medium applied effective ideological symbols to visualise the power of collective effort with the scope of difficulties building up the new life in a freshly established collective farm (kolkhoz). It was straightforward propaganda to demonstrate that in spite of difficulties, collective farming was the only correct way to achieve prosperity in the countryside. The theme of the film was to show the goodness of Stalinist improvements in a poor post-war rural community at the end of the 1940s. In a very simple manner, topics such as nationalism, the class struggle, socialist ideology, kulaks, collective ownership, mechanisation of agriculture and large-scale land improvements were presented. To capture the wider audience and to increase social impact, the film also starred the rising opera star Georg Ots, still considered as one of the greatest Estonian opera singers ever. In addition to ideologically charged films, a type of propagandist short documentary, the ringvaade (newsreel) was produced in Soviet Estonia. These concentrated on various aspects ofSoviet lifestyle, aiming to demonstrate the achievements of collectiveideology, and the high morale of the Soviet working class. We studied these and other examples in order to examine the range of themes andmotifs presented in them, focusing on the ideological impact on the rural landscape caused by mechanisation, forest management and land melioration. What is revealed is an attempt to persuade the new kolkhozniki (collective farmers) of the benefits of the new system – which, ironically, had dispossessed many of them of their own farms which they had built up in the inter-war years (and which were restored to them after the collapse of the Soviet system in the 1990s).

scholarly journals Rural urbanization under Xi Jinping: From rapid community building to steady urbanization?

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Meyer-Clement
Keyword(s):  
Rural Community ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Rural Land ◽  
Rural Urbanization

‘Rural community building’ is one of the most prominent policies of rural urbanization and village renovation in China. Since the nationwide implementation of this policy within the scope of the programme ‘Building a new socialist countryside’, the large-scale construction of new residential complexes has accelerated the transformation of the country’s rural landscape. However, extensive demolition and relocation have drawn increasing criticism, and the policy has become synonymous with the seizure of rural land resources by local governments. When Xi Jinping came to power, the new leadership initially appeared to abandon the policy but has eventually revived it. This article studies the implementation and evolution of the rural community building policy as a case of policy learning. The analysis of national and local policy documents and implementation practices in four provinces highlights a new framing of the policy, more intensive hierarchical controls over rural land use, and the state’s increasing reach into village governance, as well as new incentives for local governments to continue with demolition and relocation projects. These changes reveal a mode of policy learning in the context of an authoritarian regime whose goal is to improve policy implementation in the face of growing public criticism and social tension.

scholarly journals Can large-scale land acquisition deals improve livelihoods and lift people out of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? Empirical evidence from Tanzania

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Ernest Nkansah-Dwamena
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Large Scale Land

The recent wave of large-scale land acquisitions or land deals, popularly called ‘land grabbing’ in subSaharan Africa, has provoked vigorous debate over the potential benefits and risks to local people, with results structured by complex policy and institu­tional context. Land deals present new develop­ment challenges and aggravate old vulnera­bilities, raising critical questions for investigation. Yet empirical evidence of impacts on local populations is limited, particularly regarding how land deals affect local people’s livelihood assets, strategies, and outcomes. Guided by the sustainable livelihood approach and a quasi-experimental design, I compare livelihoods before and after a land deal project and between an affected and a control community in southwestern Tanzania. I use household surveys, focused group discussions, and key informant interviews to collect data. The ANOVA analyses revealed that the project severely deterio­rated households’ natural, financial, and social capital and had far-reaching impacts on well-being in the affected community compared to the control village. The study recommends that African countries should consider (1) scrutinizing land deals and enforcing contracts, (2) conducting rigorous envi­ron­mental and social impact assess­ment, (3) strengthening customary land rights and reinforc­ing compensation policies, and (4) mean­ingfully involving locals in land deal negotiations. This contribution responds to the deficit in research on land deals’ impacts on livelihoods and well-being and lays the groundwork for future research.

Scheming

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seán Damer
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Housing Scheme ◽  
Post War ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Voice ◽  
House Building

This book seeks to explain how the Corporation of Glasgow, in its large-scale council house-building programme in the inter- and post-war years, came to reproduce a hierarchical Victorian class structure. The three tiers of housing scheme which it constructed – Ordinary, Intermediate, and Slum-Clearance – effectively signified First, Second and Third Class. This came about because the Corporation uncritically reproduced the offensive and patriarchal attitudes of the Victorian bourgeoisie towards the working-class. The book shows how this worked out on the ground in Glasgow, and describes the attitudes of both authoritarian housing officials, and council tenants. This is the first time the voice of Glasgow’s council tenants has been heard. The conclusion is that local council housing policy was driven by unapologetic considerations of social class.

“Community Interests” and the Role of International Law in the Creation of a Global Market for Agricultural Land

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen von Bernstorff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Land Grab ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
The One

The chapter explores the notion of “community interests” with regard to the global “land-grab” phenomenon. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase of foreign investment in agricultural land could be observed. Bilateral investment treaties protect around 75 per cent of these large-scale land acquisitions, many of which came with associated social problems, such as displaced local populations and negative consequences for food security in Third World countries receiving these large-scale foreign investments. Hence, two potentially conflicting areas of international law are relevant in this context: Economic, social, and cultural rights and the principles of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and “food sovereignty” challenging large-scale investments on the one hand, and specific norms of international economic law stabilizing them on the other. The contribution discusses the usefulness of the concept of “community interests” in cases where the two colliding sets of norms are both considered to protect such interests.

scholarly journals Large scale land investments and food security in agropastoral areas of Ethiopia

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adugna Eneyew Bekele ◽  
Liesbeth Dries ◽  
Wim Heijman ◽  
Dusan Drabik
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Additional Food ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Large Scale Land ◽  
Household Food Consumption ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractIn Ethiopia, large scale land investments have been expanding into pastoral regions. However, little is known about the consequences of these investments on the food security of the pastoral community. Using Living Standard Measurement Survey data of the World Bank, we find that, on average, about 32% of the respondents from the (agro-)pastoral regions are food insecure. After controlling for confounders, proximity to large scale land investments is associated with additional food intake of up to 745 kcal per day per adult compared to the households located farther away from a large scale land investment. Proximity to large scale land investment has no significant effect on the coping strategies based food security. For households located in proximity to a large scale land investment, food intake significantly increases with access to roads and markets. Proximity to a large scale land investment has a positive effect on household food consumption not necessarily because of direct benefits from large scale land investments, but due to land and soil quality near the large scale land investments.

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