Robert Deutsch - The Food Revolution In The Soviet Union And Eastern Europe

The Food Revolution in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

The concept of Westview Special Studies is a response to the continuing crisis in academic and informational publishing. Library budgets are being diverted from the purchase of books and used for data banks, computers, micromedia, and other methods of information retrieval. Interlibrary loan structures further reduce the edition sizes required to satisfy the needs of the scholarly community. Economic pressures on university presses and the few private scholarly publishing companies have greatly limited the capacity of the industry to properly serve the academic and research communities. As a result, many manuscripts dealing with important subjects, often representing the highest level of scholarship, are no longer economically viable publishing projectsor, if accepted for publication, are typically subject to lead times ranging from one to three years.

Westview Special Studies are our practical solution to the problem. As always, the selection criteria include the importance of the subject, the work's contribution to scholarship, and its insight, originality of thought, and excellence of exposition. We accept manuscripts in camera-ready form, typed, set, or word processed according to specifications laid out in our comprehensive manual, which contains straightforward instructions and sample pages. The responsibility for editing and proofreading lies with the author or sponsoring institution, but our editorial staff is always available to answer questions and provide guidance.

The result is a book printed on acid-free paper and bound in sturdy, library-quality soft covers. We manufacture these books ourselves using equipment that does not require a lengthy make-ready process and that allows us to publish first editions of 300 to 1000 copies and to reprint even smaller quantities as needed. Thus, we can produce Special Studies quickly and can keep even very specialized books in print as long as there is a demand for them.

The first study in the Western world to compare the relationship between food and politics in the countries of Eastern Europe, this book views the current food revolution as part of the modernization process. Robert Deutsch argues that the communist leaders in the Comecon countries increasingly link political stability and preservation of power to the problem of satisfying consumer demand. He also assesses the various social forces that have brought about the food revolution. The most important is the expanded working class, which is no longer willing to defer consumer demands to a hypothetical communist future. The CMEA countries thus face the dilemma of either gradually liberalizing their economies in order to meet growing consumer demands or resorting to repression. Neither of these options promises a long-term solution for implementing economic policies prescribed by Marxist-Leninist doctrine. Robert Deutsch presents case studies of Hungary, Bulgaria, and the German Democratic Republic as examples of the "relative success" of economic reforms. To a greater or lesser extent, these countries have opted for economic decentralization by liberalizing private ownership and pricing policy and by integrating planning with market-oriented concepts. The author compares this with the economic problems of the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. The study is enhanced by an exhaustive bibliography, arranged topically and drawn from the specialized literature in several languages.

Robert Deutsch is visiting professor of history at Stanford University. He has published widely on international relations and social history.

Robert Deutsch

First published 1986 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2019 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1986 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Deutsch, Robert.
The food revolution in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
(Westview special studies on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Food supply--Soviet Union. 2. Produce trade--Soviet Union.
3. Agriculture and state--Soviet Union. 4. Food supply--Europe, Eastern. 5. Produce trade--Europe, Eastern. 6. Agriculture and state--Europe, Eastern. 7. Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.
I. Title. II. Series.
HD9015.S652D47 1985 338.1'9'47 85-26625

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-29219-5 (hbk)

According to their own official reports, the Camecon countries consider problems of food and nutrition as serious as those connected with fuel, energy, and raw materials. Yet many Western scholars have studied the serious effects of mistaken economic policies in Comecon countries regarding food production and distribution in depth only since the recent events in Poland. In part, the Polish crisis was caused from general shortages, especially that of food. Other socialist countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia may also experience a crisis similar to that in Poland. Several Western scholars--such as Naum Jasny, Lazar Volin, Alec Nove, and Jerzy Karcz--have contributed invaluably to the study of socialist agriculture but have not adequately incorporated the effects of changing consumer demand, food consumption, and income increases into their analyses.

This took investigates the effect of rising consumer food demands on investment, pricing, and distribution policies in socialist countries. This volume also analyzes the differential economic performance of various socialist countries--countries that operate under similar political, economic, legal and ideological systems and precepts but that achieve strikingly different results in their respective abilities to meet consumer demands. Also examined is the proposition that major national economic and political problems can oily be solved by aeration, long-term international economic strategies pursued by major regional cooperation and transnational associations. This book investigates the manner in which differences in productivity and different approaches to the solution of nutritional problems among various socialist countries are linked to international trade and international diplomatic relations within Comecon and between Canecon and the West.

This work is based on the assumption that industrialization creates repetitive social processes, seme of which transcend political systems. In socialist and capitalist countries, industrialization leads to urbanization and changes in occupational income structure, consumption patterns, food and health habits, and life expectancy. Certain political patterns are specific to socialist countries--for instance, socialist ownership of industry and agriculture, repressive political management, central investment and planning, central decision making in the distribution of food and other commodities, and centrally regulated pricing and income policies. All of these are linked to the wider process of modernization.