The Theory of Peasant Co-operatives ALEXANDER CHAYANOV ‘Translated by David Wedgwood Benn Introduction by Viktor Danilov Ohio State University Press ColumbusPublished inthe United Stats by the Ohio State University Press. Published in Great Bitsin by 1.B. Tauris as art ofthe Second World series. Fst published in Russian as Osnounye idl ormy organisatsit sal skobhozyastvennoi hooperatsii (The basic ideas and organizational forms of agricultural co-operation), Moscow 1927. This was the ‘second edition, revised and supplemented, of a book frst published inisi9, NOTE: Some of the tables in Alexander Chayanov’s orignal Russian text contain arithmetic inaccuracies. Since it has not been possible to check Chayanov's figures from the 1920s, the tables have been left asthe author prepared them. Inthe English edition ofthe book certain cuts have been made and ‘some tables and diagrams have been omitted. Copyright to English translation © 1991 1B. Tauris Allrights reserved, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data CChafinov, A. V. (Aleksandr Vasifevic), 1888-1999, {[Osnovnye ide i formy organzatsi se skokhozastvennot ooperatsi- English] ‘The theory of peasant co-operatives / Alexander Chayanov translated by David Wedgwood Benn introduction by Viktor Danlv. >. cm, “Translation of: Osnovnye id iformy onganiaiit se skokhozialstvennotkooperaisi ISBN 0-8142-0565-6 1. Agricuture, Cooperative Soviet Union. 2. Soviet Union — Economic policy—1917-1928. I. Title. HD1491.S65C4913 1991 34.685) 0047 —de20 91-21290 cP ‘The paper inthis book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability ofthe Committee on Production Guideines for Book Longevity ofthe Counc on Library Resources, Printed in Great Britain, Contents Foreword to the Second World Series by Teodor Shain Introduction by Viktor Danilov Author's Comment won 1 The Processes and the Concept of Vertical Concentration in the Rural Economy: Peasant Co-operation 25 an Alternative 2. The Theory of Differential Optima and Co-operatives in the Peasant Economy 3 Credit inthe Peasant Economy 4 Co-operative Credit Societies 5. The Peasant Family's Money Economy and its Organization on Co-operative Principles 6 The Basic Principles of the Co-operative Organization ‘of Commodity Circulation 7. The Organization of Co-operative Marketing and Reprocessing Enterprises B_ Machinery Users’ Associations 9 Dairy Farming Reprocessing and Catte-earing Co-operatives 10 Peasant Co-operation forthe Purpose of Cattle-rearing 2 53 2 1 us 13 ur 162 183vi Contents u 2 13 “4 Co-operative Insurance Associations Concemed with Land Collective Farms or "Total Agricultural Co-operation’ ‘The Basic Principles of Organization of Agrcukural Cooperatives 187 196, 207 eo) The Second World Series “In the West they simply do not know Russia. . . Russia ints germination.” Alexander Herteen ‘As a publication project The Second World pursues an explicit goal, ‘admits to a bias and proceeds on a number of assumptions, ‘This should be stated atthe outset. The series wil aim to let the Soviet authors and their historical predecessors in tsarist Russia speak with their own voices about issues of major significance tous and to them. |e wil foces particularly on their explorations of their own society and culture, past and present, but set no rigd boundaries to these; some of the texts wil be more general whle others will carry primary tevidence, for example, memoirs, documents, etc. Many ofthe texts hhave been commissioned to reflect the most recent suet and controversies of Gorbachev's presto. “To bridge diferences of culture and experience each ofthe books will carry a substantial introduction by a Western scholar within the field. Particular care wil also be taken to maintain satisfactory standards of translation and etng. ‘A word about words. A generation ago the term “Third World’ was coined in its current meaning, to indicate a somewhat imprecise ‘combination of societal characteristics ~ the postcolonial experience, under industriaization, relative poverty andthe effort to establish a Identity separate from the superpowers, the ‘Bandung camp’. This left impicit yet clear which were the other two ‘world’. It Was ‘us’ and ‘them, those best represented by the USA and those best represented by the USSR. Much has changed since, giving the Be to ‘rude categorizations. But in research and the media, atthe UN and ‘on television, the words and the meanings established in the 1960s are stil very much with us. This makes the tile of our project