Unemployment as a Consequence of the Liquidation of State Agricultural Farms in 1991-2003
Unemployment as a Consequence of the Liquidation of State Agricultural Farms in 1991-2003

Summary/Abstract: State Agricultural Farms (SAF) were liquidated on the basis of an act adopted in1991. During the work on the act, the focus was exclusively on issues related to ownershipand economic transformations, while the social consequences were not taken into account.SAF employees, especially agricultural workers, constituted a specific, historically shapedsocio-professional group characterized by relatively low education and narrow profession-al qualifications. The aim of article is to identify the genesis of social problems in post-state-hood areas, especially unemployment and its regional variation. The source base of thestudy is mainly the Reports of the Agricultural Property Agency of the State Treasury andsociological research reports carried out in post-statehood areas. The main finding of theresearch is that policy decisions to abolish state farms were made without taking into ac-count their specific characteristics and territorial distribution. Their mentality was shapedby the nature of work and everyday life, which was entirely connected with the work-place. The workplace organized most of the living and social matters for employees andtheir families. After the liquidation of the State Agricultural Farms, employees were una-ble to find their place on the –labour market. Large-area farms established on the basis ofthe former SAFs radically limited employment, and the lack of appropriate skills and lim-ited demand for labour outside agriculture worsened the situation of blue collar workersin particular. Regional differences were of particular importance for the scale of unemploy-ment – where SAFs dominated, the unemployment problem persists even three decadesafter their liquidation, although it no longer concerns only former SAF employees, but allresidents of former SAF areas.

• Details
• Contents