From policy to misery? the state agricultural farms vs. ‘the rural’

Abstract

1989 was a turning point in the socio-economic development in the former Eastern bloc, initiating a systemic transformation that affected the society at large. It also contributed to the crystallisation of certain cultural landscapes, hitherto largely illegible due to the inhibition of spatial processes encountered during socialism. In Poland, after a quarter-century of a free market economy, the focus on social problems began to expand to the spatial realm as well. It became apparent that the progressive social polarisation that followed was most prominent in environments striated by a particular landscape type – the former State Agricultural Farm (PGR). Considering PGRs as ‘the epitome of rurality’ subject to ideas informing about the direction of contemporary ‘rural development’ prompts a different way of looking at the problem. In this paper, we investigate the concept of rurality in the discursive tenor of implemented policy and contrast it with contextualised empirical examples. Our findings suggest that an efficient policy should be confronted with the expectations of residents at the local level, and introducing top-down actions usually ends in failure as in the case of post-PGR estates.

Polarization of Living Standards among Administrative Units Engaged in Cross-Border Cooperation—The Example of Polish Municipalities of Euroregion Baltic

“…In both sets, the rural municipality of Braniewo was found to rank last in terms of the synthetic index of the standard of living (Table 3). Lelkowo, Braniewo, and the Polish municipalities of the Russian Federation border belt can be assumed to suffer from long-term repercussions of centrally planned economy and insufficient siting of economic activity, which is the lynchpin of local community development [104] (p. 237), [105] (p. 87).…”

“…found to rank last in terms of the synthetic index of the standard of living (Table 3). Lelkowo, Braniewo, and the Polish municipalities of the Russian Federation border belt can be assumed to suffer from long-term repercussions of centrally planned economy and insufficient siting of economic activity, which is the lynchpin of local community development [104] (p. 237), [105] (p. 87). This spatial differentiation of living standards made it possible to identi municipalities with high living standards and problem areas.…”

“…Pursuing this form of cooperation was intended to support bilateral relationships between local communities and to be a vital component of socio-economic convergence. The first Euroregion that included Polish administrative units was established in 1991 on the south-western border of Poland-Euroregion Neisse, which also encompassed German and Czech municipalities [11] (p. 105).…”

Small Towns’ Functions as a Determinant of the Standard of Living in Rural Areas—An Example from Poland

“…The difference is particularly striking with regard to Braniewo, Górowo Iławeckie, and Sępopol-localities characterized by low population density, depopulation, and low concentration of industrial and service activities. Transport-related social exclusion, the "legacy burden" of communistera farmland control policies ("PGR" state agricultural farms) [61], combined with reduced labor demand and a progressively ageing population , all act as barriers to local growth. This trend is corroborated by past studies [9,[62][63][64][65].…”