About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Max from IFDDR about land reform and socialist agriculture in the DDR.

On today’s episode we sit down with Max from International Research Centre DDR (IFDDR) to discuss their excellent study on land reform and socialist agriculture in the German Democratic Republic (known globally by it’s German acronym the DDR - Deutsche Demokratische Republik) : The Land to Those Who Work It: From Land Reform to Socialist Agriculture in the DDR Study description: Within just 45 years, the conditions in the East German countryside changed fundamentally. This transformation took place in several stages. The first stage (1945–1948) instituted a land reform that broke up the centuries-old land ownership structures in the countryside. This process of democratisation created the first framework for new relations of production based on cooperation. The second stage (1952–1960) was characterised by the Genossenschaftsbewegung (the cooperative movement), which was able to resolve the contradictions between modern technology and small-scale production in the interests of farmers and agricultural workers, without ruining, displacing, or subordinating them to the interests of big business, as occurs under capitalism. By the same token, the agricultural cooperatives also…

People in this episode

Guest: Max

Topics covered

• land reform
• socialist agriculture
• German Democratic Republic
• cooperative movement
• East German countryside

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Research Centre DDR

Books & works: The Land to Those Who Work It: From Land Reform to Socialist Agriculture in the DDR

Places: German Democratic Republic

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