Sociology and Space, No. 103-104, 1989.
Original scientific paper
Jalžabet Between the Past and the Future
Juraj Hrženjak
Mira Balen
Štefica Bahtijarević
Željko Baranović
Edvin Ferber
Ivo Grgić
Miroslav Kirinčić
Mirjana Lipovšćak
Hubert Maver
Fedor Mikić
Vladimir Pletenac
Vlado Puljiz
Bogdan Stojsavljević
Branko Štancl
Olga Taritaš
Abstract
This article presents the results of
two studies into the economic and
social relations and life of the
inhabitants of Jalžabet.
The village of Jalžabet covers 9.7
square kilometres and is about 15
kilometres to the south-east of
Varaždin which is the commune
centre. It lies on hilly ground
between the hills of Ivančica and
Kalnik. At the beginning of the
research project it had 893
inhabitants in 227 households.
The teams finished the basic
research and material processing
by the end of 1962, but additional
research was continued until 1965.
The renewed study in the period
1982—1985 had the same purpose
as the first one. Using the results
of research into the development of
Jalžabet between 1842 and 1962, the
authors tried to single out and
analyze the economic and social
changes in the period 1962—1982.
Within the framework of that
overall task, the accent was laid on:
changes in social relations, in the
agrarian structure, production
structure and population structure,
in landownership relations and
mentality, and in the social
structure. The development of new
social relations in the system of
self-management and direct socialist
democracy in the local comunity
were also a subject of study.
In their study of Jalžabet, the
researchers made a singular
synthesis of the 140-year-
-development of the village.
In the period up to 1945, the
villagers of Jalžabet lived through
the stage of late feudalism and
through the stage of capitalism,
in which many remains of
feudalism could still be felt.
The feudal system united the feudal
lord’s right to hold the land — the
fief, and his power over the serfs.
Part of the fief, the farms, the
serfs worked for their own use and
paid rent or the use of the farms in
labour and in kind (in later
fiudalism in money, as well), and
also through their subservience to
the feudal lord in every sense. On their land the serfs lived in
extended families (zadrougas). This
type of social organization
corresponded with subsistence
production, very low work
productivity and poverty in general.
After sefdom was even partially
abolished, money began to
penetrate interpersonal relations in
Jalžabet. The extended families
broke up and family households
consisting only of parents and their
children quickly began to develop.
The process of differentiation among
the peasants was very rapid.
Many factors influenced economic
life and relations in post-war
Jalžabet, especially between 1962
and 1982. They included: the land
reform, the impact of
industrialization on the economic
position and on interpersonal
relations in Jalžabet,
possibilities of selling, i. e. the
increased demand for agricultural
produce, the use of modern farming
methods, the appearance of business
organizations in the village and
so on.
The number of farming families in
the period of 140 years (from the
breakup of the extended families
and land registration, to 1981)
increased six times, and the number
of inhabitants 2.3 times. This
increase in the number of f amily
farms was primarily the result of
the breakup, division and formation
of new family farms.
The industrialization of post-war
Yugoslavia began to solve the
previously insoluble problems of
overpopulation in Jalžabet. For
Jalžabet industrialization meant:
1) the possibility of employing
surplus labour outside agriculture;
2) much greater possibilities of
selling agricultural products, and
3) a technical and technological
revolution in farming methods.
Data from the 1960 census on
private farms show that 439 men
and women worked on the family
farms, 82 persons were permanently
and 15 occasionally employed
outside agriculture. In 1981, 348
persons worked on the farms, 234
women and 114 men, and 204
persons were employed outside
agriculture. In 1985 that number
increased.
New socio-economic relations
resulted in a new type of farm in
Jalžabet, the so-called part-time
farm, in which the family lives from
the income from two sources: from farming and from work outside the
farm. Of a total of 218 households,
2/3 are part-time households.
At the time of the research in 1981,
the village had 64 tractors and only
five horses. The tractors were
supplied with almost all the
necessary equipment. During the
last 20 years the structure of
farming tools changed completely.
In 1945, Jalžabet had a four-year
primary school with four teachers;
in the school year 1956/57 Jalžabet
had an eight-year primary school
with 10 teachers; in 1981 the school
had 17 teachers. The school excels
in extra-curricular activities in
which a large number of pupils and
teachers participate.
All the inhabitants of Jalžabet have .
social and health insurance. Health
reports show a decrease of diseases
that were the result of
malnutrition, unhygienic conditions
of life and low health education.
Today there are no socially
endangered inhabitants in Jalžabet.
Nutrition has improved greatly in
Jalžabet, both in quantity and in
variety. In 1985 the consumption of
milk, eggs, meat, sausages and
smoked meat made at home or
purchased, and sugar and oil,
increased. Maize began to disappear
as a food for human consumption
and became exclusively cattle food.
In 1961, Jalžabet had 226 houses
with 226 households. In 1981,
Jalžabet had 218 houses. As a rule,
each family has its own home with
an average of over three rooms.
There is as much as 25 square
metres living space per person. Of
the 218 homes, 134 have tapwater,
sewage and electrical power, 101
have bathrooms and WC.
There have been great changes in
family relations in the period
between 1961 and 1981. The
predominantly autarchic farming
family, most of whose members
lived from agriculture, has in the
last 25 years turned into the
part-time family with workers,
craftsmen, clerical workers,
schoolchildren, students and farmers
all at the same time. There is no
more spinning, weaving, picking
feathers and so on. The family
members wear ready-made clothes.
It is significant that many young
married couples went to the city,
but some of them returned to
continue their family life in
Jalžabet. When the wishes of the Jalžabet
youth were examined, not a single
respondent wanted his future
occupation to be only work on
the farm.
In the 40 post-war years most of
the greatest economic, social and
political problems, for whose
solution the peasants of Jalžabet
fought for over 140 j^ears, have been
solved.
The research results enable us to
analyze the development of the
village from a classical to a
part-time and urbanized settlement,
and also the different types of
households, purely farming and
part-time. They also give some
answers to questions about the place
and role of the peasantry in modern
society and help establish the place
and role of the urbanized village in
the further development of the
socialist self-management society.
This study is also an example of
longitudinal and interdisciplinary
research, in which different
researchers treat different segments
of the life of a community, in this
case the village of Jalžabet.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
121928
URI
Publication date:
16.1.1989.
Visits: 3.701 *