The Rage of Famine: Social Relations Among Soviet Peasantry During the Great Soviet Famine, 1930-1934

The purpose of this study is to examine issues of peasant social relations in Soviet Ukraine during Great Soviet Famine of the early 1930s. The goal is to show how village society was affected by the conditions of famine. Also, issues of tension and cohesion among peasantry are examined in terms of how the famine manifested in the countryside. In particular, struggling for survival during the famine had a major impact on how peasants interacted. An important question surrounds this research: did the environment of the famine transform the notion of a peasant “moral economy” in peasant society? This research draws upon various primary sources, including memoirs and testimonies of survivors. Many of the oral histories are located in Congressional Testimonies of the Ukraine Famine Commission, as well as the Oral History Project of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine.

Eagerton, Jaime Elizabeth. “The Rage of Famine: Social Relations Among Soviet Peasantry During the Great Soviet Famine, 1930-1934.” (Under the direction of Dr. Gerald Surh.)