Page 367 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 367
peasant economy in interwar slovenia – policies of income diversification
Cottage industries unite tens of thousands of busy hands under the
roofs of thousands of rural homesteads in silent labour, in a fight for
survival and in the noble effort of improving one’s living conditions.
Statistics cannot measure these hard-working multitudes that sur-
pass the most powerful industrial conglomerates. They remain in-
visible, nowhere advertised but ever active. Just as their creative
powers and kinds are inexhaustible, their dynamics are lively and
pervasive [...] in their complexity, they have become an indispensa-
ble part of the national income and well-being.
These were the words Mohorič, who did not hide his enthusiasm for
the industriousness and creativeness of the peasantry, used to underline
the various phenomena of economisation of agricultural establishments. In
Slovenia, “handicrafts” (domača obrt) and “cottage industry” (hišna indus-
trija) are terms, or rather concepts, usually used to describe the methods of
operation on Slovenian farms.
In this regard, however, we must also take into account the complex-
ity of managing a farm, which in itself involves a combination of differ-
ent complementary skills and experience. This complexity offers peasants
a starting point for various economic initiatives, provided there are oppor-
tunities to allow for them. As any other activity, farming is not one-sided.
Farms and the village council as a community are a microcosm of interwo-
ven relationships between economies and sectors, of social relations, differ-
ent views and conflicting material aspirations (born of necessity or desire
to own) as well as social interests. The implemented policies of diversifica-
tion of the peasant’s sources of income involved the peasantry and individ-
ual peasants in the world of the capitalist economy, allowed for the world
to be conceived through the peasant’s social self-sufficiency and cleared the
path for social modernisation. This all occurred spontaneously, automati-
cally and gradually.
In this regard, a study by Anton Markun from 1943 is very useful, show-
ing in detail the interwar economic situation in the Velike Lašče district. In
the first volume of his work, Markun describes agricultural activities, while
the second volume is dedicated to a detailed presentation of handicrafts
and trade. In the context of this article, we are primarily interested in the
second volume, which provides a list and descriptions of non-agricultur-
al activities in the countryside, specifically in the district of Velike Lašče.
The list presents a wide array of possible economic initiatives and relation-
ships either unconnected to agriculture or stemming from agricultural ac-
365
Cottage industries unite tens of thousands of busy hands under the
roofs of thousands of rural homesteads in silent labour, in a fight for
survival and in the noble effort of improving one’s living conditions.
Statistics cannot measure these hard-working multitudes that sur-
pass the most powerful industrial conglomerates. They remain in-
visible, nowhere advertised but ever active. Just as their creative
powers and kinds are inexhaustible, their dynamics are lively and
pervasive [...] in their complexity, they have become an indispensa-
ble part of the national income and well-being.
These were the words Mohorič, who did not hide his enthusiasm for
the industriousness and creativeness of the peasantry, used to underline
the various phenomena of economisation of agricultural establishments. In
Slovenia, “handicrafts” (domača obrt) and “cottage industry” (hišna indus-
trija) are terms, or rather concepts, usually used to describe the methods of
operation on Slovenian farms.
In this regard, however, we must also take into account the complex-
ity of managing a farm, which in itself involves a combination of differ-
ent complementary skills and experience. This complexity offers peasants
a starting point for various economic initiatives, provided there are oppor-
tunities to allow for them. As any other activity, farming is not one-sided.
Farms and the village council as a community are a microcosm of interwo-
ven relationships between economies and sectors, of social relations, differ-
ent views and conflicting material aspirations (born of necessity or desire
to own) as well as social interests. The implemented policies of diversifica-
tion of the peasant’s sources of income involved the peasantry and individ-
ual peasants in the world of the capitalist economy, allowed for the world
to be conceived through the peasant’s social self-sufficiency and cleared the
path for social modernisation. This all occurred spontaneously, automati-
cally and gradually.
In this regard, a study by Anton Markun from 1943 is very useful, show-
ing in detail the interwar economic situation in the Velike Lašče district. In
the first volume of his work, Markun describes agricultural activities, while
the second volume is dedicated to a detailed presentation of handicrafts
and trade. In the context of this article, we are primarily interested in the
second volume, which provides a list and descriptions of non-agricultur-
al activities in the countryside, specifically in the district of Velike Lašče.
The list presents a wide array of possible economic initiatives and relation-
ships either unconnected to agriculture or stemming from agricultural ac-
365
