Page 371 - 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. 371
peasant economy in interwar slovenia – policies of income diversification
support. Cases from around Ptuj and Radovljica certainly seem to indicate
so (Ogorelec 1938, 233–4; Patik 1938, 251–6). It was also possible for a hand-
icraft to disappear, as was the case with the cottage textile industry, for ex-
ample, or a new one to emerge, which is what happened with toy-making
around Velike Lašče after WWI. Toy-making was started deliberately, on
the initiative of a couple of enterprising traders who organised production
at farms, provided samples and then sold the toys on the Yugoslav market
(Markun 1943, 62).
Cottage industry was thus an important part of the peasant’s extra-ag-
ricultural activities, but with certain regional and class differences. Realis-
tic estimates for the interwar period indicate that cottage industry involved
at least 25,000 people working either part-time or full-time (Spominski
zbornik 1939, 391), i.e. approximately 5% of all the peasant population. Add
to that the work for hire and seasonal migrations, and we can further es-
timate that the living standard of at least 25% of all the peasant population
strongly depended on additional income from extra-agricultural activities.
Such income was extremely important in order for farms, smaller ones in
particular, to be able to balance their budget. By encouraging additional
education of peasants through various professional courses, the authorities
effectively supported the processes of income diversification (Pretnar 1938,
257–60). In this respect, we need to point out another aspect of the various
policies of income diversification in the agricultural sector: that is, the pro-
cess featured significant participation from women. Contemporaries had
estimated that women were the majority both in cottage industries and in
work for hire. In combination with activities aimed at improving house-
hold work and encouraging the on-site processing and marketing of agri-
cultural products (Gosak 1939, 433–7), this fact reshaped the perception of
the economic value of women’s work, subsequently resulting in the social
emancipation of women in the context of the traditional ideology of rela-
tions between the genders and gender-based distribution of labour in agri-
cultural households.
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that in the persisting circumstances the diversi-
fication of income sources was an economic and social must for the pea-
sants. In many aspects the characteristics of the peasant economy in Slove-
nia in the interwar period show remarkable analogies with the 19th century,
and even with the Early-Modern pre-industrial times. The above-presented
369
support. Cases from around Ptuj and Radovljica certainly seem to indicate
so (Ogorelec 1938, 233–4; Patik 1938, 251–6). It was also possible for a hand-
icraft to disappear, as was the case with the cottage textile industry, for ex-
ample, or a new one to emerge, which is what happened with toy-making
around Velike Lašče after WWI. Toy-making was started deliberately, on
the initiative of a couple of enterprising traders who organised production
at farms, provided samples and then sold the toys on the Yugoslav market
(Markun 1943, 62).
Cottage industry was thus an important part of the peasant’s extra-ag-
ricultural activities, but with certain regional and class differences. Realis-
tic estimates for the interwar period indicate that cottage industry involved
at least 25,000 people working either part-time or full-time (Spominski
zbornik 1939, 391), i.e. approximately 5% of all the peasant population. Add
to that the work for hire and seasonal migrations, and we can further es-
timate that the living standard of at least 25% of all the peasant population
strongly depended on additional income from extra-agricultural activities.
Such income was extremely important in order for farms, smaller ones in
particular, to be able to balance their budget. By encouraging additional
education of peasants through various professional courses, the authorities
effectively supported the processes of income diversification (Pretnar 1938,
257–60). In this respect, we need to point out another aspect of the various
policies of income diversification in the agricultural sector: that is, the pro-
cess featured significant participation from women. Contemporaries had
estimated that women were the majority both in cottage industries and in
work for hire. In combination with activities aimed at improving house-
hold work and encouraging the on-site processing and marketing of agri-
cultural products (Gosak 1939, 433–7), this fact reshaped the perception of
the economic value of women’s work, subsequently resulting in the social
emancipation of women in the context of the traditional ideology of rela-
tions between the genders and gender-based distribution of labour in agri-
cultural households.
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that in the persisting circumstances the diversi-
fication of income sources was an economic and social must for the pea-
sants. In many aspects the characteristics of the peasant economy in Slove-
nia in the interwar period show remarkable analogies with the 19th century,
and even with the Early-Modern pre-industrial times. The above-presented
369
