Sociology and Space, No. 65-66, 1979.
Review article
Establishing Links between the Independent Personal Labour of Farmers and the System of Self-managed Associated Labour
Edvard Kardelj
Abstract
In this paper, which is a chapter
from the book Slobodni udruženi
rad (Free Associated Labour),
Edvard Kardelj explains some
essential concepts concerning the
socio-economic and socio-political
position of private farmers in the
Yugoslav community of socialist
self-management, and shows the
pre-conditions, forms and
concequences of establishing links
between their personal labour and
the system of associated labour.
The fact that private farmers own
over 80% of the total amount of
cultivable land shows the
importance of personal labour in
agriculture. A long time will pass
before a great percentage of
cultivable land is directly included
in large-scale socialized agriculture,
so the Yugoslav socialist society
must undertake all it can to
increase the private farmers' work
productivity. That can be achieved
only if they and the socialist sector
of associated labour are linked in
a single process of self-managed
associated labour. This is the
essence of the socialization of
agricultural production, without
any forcible destruction of peasant
property.
All peasants should be included in
this process. That is why
cooperatives and other forms
through which peasants are
organized remain irreplaceable
factors in the socialist
transformation of the village and
agriculture. Organizations of
associated labour for cooperation in farm-factories also have the
same importance.
The socio-economic position of
private farmers is the starting
point for linking their independent
personal labour with the system of
self-managed associated labour. In
the Yugoslav socialist self-managed
society farmers and members of
their households occupied in
agriculture have, on the basis of
their personal labour, in principle
the same socio-economic position
and basically the same rights
and obligations regarding their
work as do workers in associated
labour (who work with socially
owned means of production). This
is expressed in the Constitution
(1974) and the Associated Labour
Act (1976).
Farmers are completely free to
decide whether to organize their
work within the farmework of the
family farm, or to establish links
with the system of self-managed
associated labour through
cooperatives and similar
organizations. The farmer also
decides freely on the form in which
he pools his labour, land,
instruments of labour and other
resources with the labour and
resources of workers employed in
self-managed associated labour. The
most important object of the
socialization of agriculture is for
society to help the peasant in the
measure to which he is prepared
to help himself. This means
to create conditions for
modern technological equipment
and work in agriculture,
and thus enable the historical,
inevitable transition to
industrialized agricultural
production. But the private farmer
must also be able to work as
productively as possible in socialist
cooperation with workers in basic
organizations of associated labour,
to pool his labour and income with them, to make his income
from the commonly realized
income, and thus to be included in
a process of self-managed
associated labour.
Edvard Kardelj emphasizes that
the Yugoslav society must
constantly strive to create the same
and equal position for the worker
and the peasant.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
119365
URI
Publication date:
12.12.1979.
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