Socialist Agrarian Utopia in the 1920s: Chayanov

Abstract

The specific focus of this paper is to re-examine two agrarian utopias of Alexander Chayanov (1888–1937): mostly The Journey of my Brother Alexei to the Land of the Peasant Utopia (1920) and partly the scientific prediction of the future development of agriculture The Possibilities of Agriculture (1928), in the context of the discussion of socialism and in particular Chayanov’s theory of non-capitalist economic systems (1924). The manifestation of peasant socialism that he envisages, with a form of economic organization that is based on total cooperation and inspired by the criticism of extreme coercion related to proletarian socialism (alongside his thoughts on the new paths to the large-scale collective organization of agriculture), provides us with new insights into Chayanov’s economic thinking. The paper discusses the role of the family in Chayanov’s peasant utopia. The answers to “uncomfortable” theoretical questions about the worker’s incentives, the use of coercion and the emergence of a new elite appearing under socialism are central to Chayanov’s theory of non-capitalist development. The partial comparison of scientific and peasant utopias shows different perspective to various issues and questions. In a broader context, the paper aims to show that utopias deserve a special attention in the history of economic thought and in the study of Chaynov’s legacy.