Paper Short Abstract:

The paper analyses the activities of former workers of State Agricultural Farms (PGR), which operated in Poland from 1949 to the 1990s, and their perspectives that challenge both the industrialization of agriculture and the neoliberal narratives introduced after the collapse of the communist system.

Paper Abstract:

State Agricultural Farms (PGRs) were established in communist Poland in 1949. They were intended to function as an exemplary model of collective agriculture, supporting the process of industrialization. After the collapse of communism in Poland, state farms, as remnants of the past system, were liquidated in 1991. The introduction of a 'new capitalist order' into the previously nationalized agricultural sector had complex and long-term consequences, including rising unemployment and community impoverishment. Representations of PGRs in public discourse often perpetuate a harmful image of the workers, portraying them as members of an ‘underclass’ or as representatives of the so-called ‘homo sovieticus’.

The paper analyses several current initiatives led by former PGR workers in different parts of the country (their ‘dispersed mobilization’), such as workers’ unions and the establishment of a PGR museum. These initiatives aim to challenge both the industrialization of agriculture and neoliberal narratives introduced in the 1990s, as well as to regain social recognition for the workers' efforts and improve their living conditions. The focus is placed on the workers’ perspectives on the system of collective farming and its collapse, referring, among other issues, to the concept of ownership.