The industrialization of agriculture and its consequences for the natural environment: an inter-German comparative perspective

In beiden deutschen Staaten vollzog sich nach 1945 ein Trend zur Modernisierung der Landwirtschaft, wenn auch in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß. Auch die ökologischen Folgen der Industrialisierung der Landwirtschaft waren in beiden Staaten bemerkenswert ähnlich. Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die DDR unterschieden sich jedoch im Ausmaß der Umweltschäden und in den Ansätzen ihrer Bekämpfung. In der DDR gab es so gut wie gar keine offene Diskussion über die Umweltprobleme der industrialisierten Landwirtschaft. In den 1970er und 1980er Jahren stiegen die Eutrophisierung des Oberflächenwassers und die Kontaminierung des Grundwassers mit Düngemitteln und Pestiziden beträchtlich an. Das gleiche gilt für die Verdichtung des Bodens durch den Einsatz schwerer Maschinen sowie für die Erosion durch Wasser und Wind. Die ostdeutsche Regierung unterdrückte jedoch eine offene Debatte über die von den landwirtschaftlichen Großbetrieben verursachten Umweltprobleme. In der Bundesrepublik Deutschland wurden solche Probleme demgegenüber offen angesprochen. Ein Beispiel hierfür ist die Intensivtierhaltung im Nordwesten Niedersachsens. Erst in den 1980er Jahren konnten Umweltaktivisten jedoch begrenzte Korrekturen an der Politik der Modernisierung der Landwirtschaft durchsetzen. In Ostdeutschland ist die Tradition landwirtschaftlicher Modernisierung stärker erhalten geblieben als im Westen. (ICEÜbers)'Both German states saw a major trend towards agricultural modernization alter 1945, though to a different extent. Likewise, the environmental consequences of industrialized agriculture were remarkably similar in both countries. However, the Federal Republic and the GDR differed in both the extent of the environmental hazards and the approach towards abatement. In the GDR, an open discussion of the environmental problems of industrialized agriculture was almost nonexistent. In the 1970s and 1980s, the eutrophication of surface water and the contamination of groundwater with fertilizers and pesticides increased significantly, as did the compression of the soil due to heavy machinery and water and wind erosion. However, the East German government suppressed an open discussion of the environmental impact of large agricultural production units. In contrast, these consequences were discussed openly in the Federal Republic; the intensive, specialized animal production in northwestern Lower Saxony provides an example. However, environmental activists did not achieve limited corrections of the general policy of agricultural modernization until the 1980s, with traditions of agricultural modernization remaining stronger in East Germany than in the West.' (author's abstract

Überlegungen zu den Trägern und zur Handlungspraxis sozialen Engagements am Beispiel Deutschlands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert in globalhistorischer Perspektive

Ausgehend von begrifflich-theoretischen Vorüberlegungen konturiert und analysiert dieser Beitrag die sozialen Träger der „bürgerlichen Gesellschaft“ und „Zivilgesellschaft“ in der Geschichte Deutschlands im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Darüber hinaus werden Handlungsformen dieser Akteure behandelt. Dabei tritt hervor, dass die Trägergruppen zivilgesellschaftlicher Werte und Praxen deutlich variierten. Die vergleichende Perspektive, die im Ausblick Indien und China einbezieht, stellt die Fixierung der (west)deutschen Forschung auf das Bürgertum noch nachhaltiger in Frage. Insgesamt wird hier argumentiert, dass in globalhistorischer Sicht jeweils funktionale Äquivalente zivilgesellschaftlicher Praxis und Akteure identifiziert werden müssen. Dabei sind aber unterschiedliche Kontexte und Aneignungen in Rechnung zu stellen, um die Varianz der Trägergruppen von Zivilität und deren Performanz erklären zu können. Insgesamt plädiert der Autor für ein handlungslogisches Verständnis von Zivilgesellschaft

Towards a transnational civil society: actors and concepts in Europe from the late eighteenth to the twentieth century

"Since late eighteenth-century Enlightenment, the concept of civil society has increasingly assumed a transnational dimension that has given rise to political debates and attracted scholarly interest. This paper provides a research report and a historical overview of the emergence and transformation of civil society organizations that have transcended national borders and cultural boundaries, especially International Non-Governmental Organizations. Based on deliberations about the definition and conceptualization of 'transnational civil society', the investigation concentrates on the abolitionists, the workers' organizations as well as on peace and on women's movements. The authors suggest that further historical studies of transnational civil society should relate its groups and activists to specific contexts and conditions. They also argue that further research should pay particular attention to the actors of transnational civil society, their performance and representations. Overall, static conceptions of transnational civil society have ignored its flexibility and changeability over the course of the last two centuries." (author's abstract)"Seit der Aufklärung im späten 18. Jahrhundert hat der Begriff Zivilgesellschaft eine zunehmend transnationale Dimension erreicht, die insbesondere politische Diskussionen und wissenschaftliches Interesse auslöste. Das vorliegende Diskussionspapier lässt sich als Forschungsbericht verstehen, der einen historischen Überblick über Auftreten und Transformation zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisationen gibt, die insbesondere national und kulturell grenzüberschreitend institutionalisiert sind, wie beispielsweise internationale Nichtregierungsorganisationen. Auf der Grundlage einer sorgfältigen Analyse von Definition und Konzeption 'transnationaler Zivilgesellschaft', konzentriert sich die Untersuchung vor allem auf die Gegner der Todesstrafe, aber auch Gewerkschaften sowie Friedens- und Frauenbewegungen. Beide Autoren plädieren für eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Thematik aus historischer Perspektive, um insbesondere bestimmte Gruppen und Aktivisten in direkten Bezug zu ihrem historischen Kontext und Vorbedingungen zu stellen. Darüber hinaus heben sie hervor, dass daran anknüpfende Studien gerade den Akteuren, ihrem Auftreten und ihrer Präsentation gewidmet werden sollen. Im Gesamtzusammenhang lässt sich festhalten, dass die bisher eher statisch geprägten Untersuchungen zum Forschungsschwerpunkt 'transnationale Zivilgesellschaft' insbesondere die Flexibilität und Unbeständigkeit derselbigen in den letzten beiden Jahrhunderten nicht berücksichtigten." (Autorenreferat

Change and Continuity: Agrarian Policy in the Soviet Occupied Zone and the Early GDR

Historiography on the development of agriculture and rural society in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the GDR has largely concentrated on certain aspects of the profound change enforced by Soviet officers as well as German party and state officials, respectively. Contrary to this approach, the contribution places the agrarian policies initiated in the late 1940s und early 1950s into their wider historical context. In this perspective, continuities coalesced with ruptures. Whereas state direction of agricultural production after 1945 was closely tied to interventionist policies in Germany since the late 1870s, the rulers in the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) abolished private land property. Thus, the foundations of the free agricultural enterprise which had emerged from the liberal reform of the early nineteenth century were also destroyed. Although it did not completely vanish, the traditional peasant culture was finally undermined by collectivization in the 1950s. Nevertheless, the agrarian policies of the leading functionaries were mitigated by the resilience of traditional values and social relations in village communities. By extending its analytical scope, historical scholarship contributes to an overall assessment of the impact of the agrarian policies pursued by the SED on the long-term development of agriculture and rural society in Germany.Historiography on the development of agriculture and rural society in the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the GDR has largely concentrated on certain aspects of the profound change enforced by Soviet officers as well as German party and state officials, respectively. Contrary to this approach, the contribution places the agrarian policies initiated in the late 1940s und early 1950s into their wider historical context. In this perspective, continuities coalesced with ruptures. Whereas state direction of agricultural production after 1945 was closely tied to interventionist policies in Germany since the late 1870s, the rulers in the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) abolished private land property. Thus, the foundations of the free agricultural enterprise which had emerged from the liberal reform of the early nineteenth century were also destroyed. Although it did not completely vanish, the traditional peasant culture was finally undermined by collectivization in the 1950s. Nevertheless, the agrarian policies of the leading functionaries were mitigated by the resilience of traditional values and social relations in village communities. By extending its analytical scope, historical scholarship contributes to an overall assessment of the impact of the agrarian policies pursued by the SED on the long-term development of agriculture and rural society in Germany

De la réforme foncière à la collectivisation en Allemagne orientale

From Land Reform to Collectivization in Eastern Germany The consequences of agrarian policies on the structure of rural society in the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany and, subsequently, in the German Democratic Republic are analyzed for the period from 1945 to 1952. Following the expropriation of big landowners (Junker) stipulated by the 1945 reform and the systematic eviction of rich farmers, undertaken in 1948, a group of « new farmers » arose during the 1950s. The government economically and socially supported the latter, just as it favoured agricultural laborers and former owners of small and middle-sized farms. However, the new farmers, in particular those who had fled from the lost eastern territories, were not always welcomed in villages.Cet article analyse les conséquences de la politique agraire sur la structure de la société rurale dans la zone d'occupation soviétique, puis en RDA, de 1945 à 1952. À l'expropriation des grands propriétaires (Junker) stipulée par la réforme agraire de 1945 et à l'éviction systématique des gros paysans entreprise à partir de 1948-1949 s'oppose dans les années cinquante la formation d'un groupe de nouveaux paysans soutenus économiquement et socialement par le régime comme l'étaient les petits et moyens anciens cultivateurs et les travailleurs agricoles. Ces nouveaux paysans - en particulier les réfugiés - ne sont pas toujours bien accueillis dans les milieux villageois.Bauerkämper Arnd. De la réforme foncière à la collectivisation en Allemagne orientale. In: Études rurales, n°138-140, 1995. Paysan au-delà du mur, sous la direction de Edouard Conte et Christian Giordano. pp. 35-51

The Demise of Agrarian Modernism and the Impact of Industrialised Agriculture on the Natural Environment in the Two German States: Die Folgen der Politik landwirtschaftlicher Industrialisierung für die natürliche Umwelt im deutsch-deutschen Vergleich

In the Federal Republic and in the GDR, agricultural policies were profoundly influenced by the experience of hunger in the first few years after First and Second World Wars. Fuelled by almost unrestricted and one-sided illusions of modernisation (conceived as perennial progress), the aim to increase production and productivity took utmost priority. Supported by large groups of the two German societies, politicians furthered the intensification, mechanisation and concentration of agrarian production, which became increasingly specialised. Moreover, capital replaced the workforce in the countryside, though to a different degree. These processes reached their apogee with the separation of plant and livestock production in the GDR in the mid-1970s. Although the two German states followed a basically similar developmental path towards industrialised agriculture, it expanded on a wider scale and more rapidly in the GDR than in the Federal Republic of Germany. Moreover, responses to the impact of agricultural modernisation on the natural environment differed in the two German states. Whereas environmentalists, in particular, increasingly challenged the unrestrained belief in agrarian “high modernism” (James C. Scott) in the West German state, the East German rulers of the Socialist Unity Party suppressed an open, public debate on the pollution of water and air in particular. In unified Germany, the belief in agrarian modernisation had suffered a severe blow, as food scandals have heightened the awareness of the health dangers emanating from agrarian industrialisation. The concept of agrarian modernism has thus assumed a reflexive, critical dimension.In the Federal Republic and in the GDR, agricultural policies were profoundly influenced by the experience of hunger in the first few years after First and Second World Wars. Fuelled by almost unrestricted and one-sided illusions of modernisation (conceived as perennial progress), the aim to increase production and productivity took utmost priority. Supported by large groups of the two German societies, politicians furthered the intensification, mechanisation and concentration of agrarian production, which became increasingly specialised. Moreover, capital replaced the workforce in the countryside, though to a different degree. These processes reached their apogee with the separation of plant and livestock production in the GDR in the mid-1970s. Although the two German states followed a basically similar developmental path towards industrialised agriculture, it expanded on a wider scale and more rapidly in the GDR than in the Federal Republic of Germany. Moreover, responses to the impact of agricultural modernisation on the natural environment differed in the two German states. Whereas environmentalists, in particular, increasingly challenged the unrestrained belief in agrarian “high modernism” (James C. Scott) in the West German state, the East German rulers of the Socialist Unity Party suppressed an open, public debate on the pollution of water and air in particular. In unified Germany, the belief in agrarian modernisation had suffered a severe blow, as food scandals have heightened the awareness of the health dangers emanating from agrarian industrialisation. The concept of agrarian modernism has thus assumed a reflexive, critical dimension