Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Type of collective farm in the soviet union . The kolkhozy were initially developed on a voluntary basis, but, after 1929 and the state takeover of private holdings, peasants were forcibly congregated into them. They then became the chief centers of collectivization within agricultural production. Whereas on state-run farms, known as sovkhozy , workers received a wage, on the kolkhozy they were also entitled to a share of the profits. These were meager as the farms were compelled to sell to the government at artificially low rates which did not reflect inflation levels. Though the kolkhozy did allow for some private enterprise, they were hugely unpopular among peasants, who were unable to move to other employment thanks to the Soviet system of internal passports. The kolkhozy came under strict state supervision, and in the eyes of many commentators they embodied a new variant of serfdom . The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 brought about their privatization. ... log in or subscribe to read full text