Abstract
This paper starts off by discussing the novel "Virgin Soil Upturned" by Mikhail Sholokhov, which according to the author of this essay, is a fictional representation of how collectivization had begun. The reality, the failure and horrors of collectivization are discussed. This paper further discusses Lenin's plan of NEP and why that plan should have been left as is, rather than turned to collectivization. This paper contains primary sources of the Kulak accounts on the communes, as well as Joseph Stalin's strategies in enforcing collectivization. The author contends that collectivization proved to be a failure since Stalin had gone to great lengths to make the process a hardship for collective farmers and peasants.

From the Paper
"Stalin used the idea of the Five Year Plans to make great strides in industrializing Russia. When he tried to equate that success with agricultural growth he met some resistance and ended up liquidating a class and causing famine. Socially, he gave some important social benefits to workers, but he also tried to purge the country and eliminated a lot of the Party, most of the army, and a good part of the workers and peasants. Stalin made several industrial improvements for his country, but that does not even begin to equal the death and destruction that he caused."

Tags:communes, kulak, russia, collective, farm

Abstract
This paper discusses the author's view of collectivization in the Ukraine, and seeks to understand Grossman's criticisms of the Soviet system. It also considers the impact of Grossman's powerful description on the reader, as a literary piece rather than a historical report.

From the Paper
"At the beginning of the 1930s Stalin embarked on nationwide drive for collectivization and modernity. The novel, "Forever Flowing," takes the case of the Ukraine as an example. The ordeal of collectivization and the subsequent famine is related by Anna Sergeyevna, who was posted to the Ukraine after the persecution of the "kulaks" in 1930. She tells her story to Ivan Grigoryevich on their first night as lovers, a detail which may initially seem frivolous, but is actually a mark of Grossman's skill as a novelist. It ensures that the tale is not seen as the author's tirade against the state, but a real woman's experience, something terrible, "something one cannot escape," "a piece of iron fragment in her heart, like a shell fragment." Anna Sergeyevna needs to explain her memories to her new lover as a way of rendering herself accountable. The ordeal is not an event in history; it lives on in everyday life."

Tags:communism, famine, grossman, kulaks, ukraine, vassily

Abstract
The writer discusses that while Baron von Haxthausen was writing in 1843-44, he discusses a land distribution system which was not very different from that instituted later, by the Bolsheviiks in the1920's. It is thus proposed that it was not Marxist ideology, but rather experience with mirs that led to success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

From the Paper
"When the German philosopher Karl Marx published Das Kapital in 1867 he was not thinking of Russian peasants as the backbone of his proletariat revolution. Writing in the mid 19th century, while the Industrial Revolution was already changing the relationship between workers, the land, and the means of production, Marx anticipated uprisings in nations like Britain or France. They were supposed to pit industrial workers against their bosses, not farmers against local governments. The proletariat revolution was supposed to result in the liberation of the ..."

Tags:commune

Abstract
This paper analyzes the social and economic effects of Stalin's Five Year Plan on the peasants and the general Russian population. It looks at how this plan influence international relations between Russia and other countries and how the West became even more suspicious of Stalin over this plan.

From the Paper
"The Soviet Union, under Stalin s leadership, embarked on a massive economic plan to industrialize the largely agrarian country. The so-called five-year plan, actually four and a quarter year plan, required the concentration of labor in urban areas. Most of the people in the Soviet Union lived on farms in small villages. To implement the plan significant social changes had to occur. The people most affected by these changes were the peasants in the small villages in the Russian countryside. The peasants represented the most conservative, most religious, and most traditional group in the Soviet Union. Conflict was inevitable when the greatest change is required of the people who are the least likely to be comfortable with change. The instability of the Soviet Union government between the Russian Revolution and the ascendancy of Stalin and the violent protests of the peasants delayed the imposition of socialist controls over the peasants. Allowing the peasants to exercise relative independence compared to the rest of Russian society created an even greater resistance to change. In Red Bread Maurice Hindus provides insight into the depth of the problems facing the Soviet Union. He wrote about the events as they were happening so he presents more detail than a writer who is distant from the events."

Tags:serf, Soviet, farmer, kollocks, peasants, tarriff, Communism, class, structure

Abstract
This paper uses the research of Geert Jan Hofstede (1991), who identified four cultural dimensions that can be used to classify different cultures. These include: power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. These four dimensions allow the social researcher to compare and contrast different societies with the ultimate goal of bringing about a greater shared understanding. According to this paper, Hofstede's has a useful application in how members from different cultures learn. This paper looks at Hofstede's dimension of individualism versus collectivism and explains its relevance to learning as well as the impact on classroom behaviour. Specifically, the paper compares the United States, a very individualistic society, with that of Taiwan, one of the most collective societies in respect to differences in learning styles and attitude.

From the Paper
"One aspect noted that impacts learning and classroom behaviour is what happens after the lecture or class is over. The highly individualistic American students immediately left the classroom, while the collectivist international students stayed behind or met to discuss the class. This post class discussion was necessary as part of the collectivist student's assimilation of the knowledge. Additionally it built the necessary rapport between students of the international backgrounds that went beyond the classrooms. Relationships were developed (Lee, Bei, DeVaney 2007). This is an important part of the collectivist learning experience. According to Hofstede (1991), it is considered more appropriate to speak out in a small group, rather than the larger classroom. This is in stark contrast to the individualist learning style of assimilation in the larger group and/or via independent study."

Tags:hofstede, culture, classroom, applications, dimensions, behavior

Abstract
This paper discusses how individualism and collectivism are exact opposites and how they represent two extremes in the way people live their lives. It contends that the most notable differences between the two lifestyles are their views on personal relations, self-fulfillment, and group collaborations. The author also discusses how a comprehensive understanding of the two concepts would help him in his job as a child and youth worker.

From the Paper
"A collectivist society meanwhile can be defined as "a culture whose members feel loyalties and obligations to an in-group, such as family, community, or organization." (Adler, Rosenfield, Proctor, & Winder, 2006, p. 420) In general, societies with a collectivist point of view will value traits such as teamwork, cooperativeness and adherence to social norms. Perspectives such as these tend be displayed in Asian, Latin American and African nations and tend to be "associated with women and people in rural settings." (Class Notes, 2009) The wellbeing of the group is essential to a collectivists own self identity, and because of this they are strongly dependent on group collaboration and interdependence. A collectivist will generally sacrifice sovereignty for the welfare of others and put the common goals of a group before the individual. People who display collectivist traits are generally less competitive and tend to avoid conflict at all cost. They value family and strong social relationships, and endeavour things such as faith, love, unity, harmony and trust."

Tags:culture, mannerism

Abstract
This paper discusses the emergence of communes in the Chinese countryside in the late 1950s as a "natural" step in the process of transformation demanded by the Great Leap Forward. The paper states that, although the cooperativization in 1955-56 resulted in the "loss" of land for the peasants, they retained their homes, small private plots and some animals. The author reports that under the impetus of the slogan "build socialism more, faster, better and more economically", far-reaching changes in working styles and methods were made throughout China.

From the Paper
"An example of the attempt to introduce the peasantry to factory-style production and technique is the oft-cited movement for the construction and operation of "back-yard furnaces". These enterprises aimed to produce a crude form of pig iron using primarily scrap metal, with the hope that through the development of local skills and initiative, farm implements and other tools could be produced locally. The first orders for the construction of these small brick blast furnaces came in May 1958 from Ko Ching-shih, the First Secretary of the Shanghai City Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). But later, and at a time when the experiment was being looked upon with some derision, Mao himself accepted responsibility for advocating the idea (2)."

Tags:peasants, transformation, mao, party, policy

From the Paper
" In 1926, one of Josef Stalin's favorite writers, Vladimir Zazubrin, wrote what would be the attitude governing land use for much of the history of the Soviet Union:
Let the fragile green breast of Siberia be dressed in the cement armor of cities, armed with the stone muzzles of factory chimneys, and girded with the iron belts of railroads. Let the taiga be burned and felled; let the steppes be trampled. Only in cement and iron can the fraternal union of all peoples, the iron brotherhood of man, be forged (cited by Pearce, 1994, 36).

Russia at the time of the Revolution was a huge but economically backward country, and the new Communist regime sought ways to expand the economy and to do so as quickly as possible. Land use for this regime meant exploiting resources as fully and quickly.."

Abstract
This paper examines how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual identities are grouped together based on their supposed similarities: their non-heterosexual orientation and their alienation from equality. It also discusses the premise that because the aim of the Gay Liberation Front, a marker of a gay movement's emergence between 1969 and 1973, was complete acceptance of sexual diversity and expression, popular belief is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peoples' views coincide and have historically. The paper seeks, through selective examination of two representative documentaries and historical events, to uncover the divisive impact of race, class, and gender constructions within modern LGBT culture.

From the Paper
" Commonalities form communities. So it was that the development of social circles provided gays and lesbians, transvestites and transsexuals, with an alternative to the alienating heteronormative majority. But the commonalities that created these communities were often not only about identifying as homosexual or queer. Discrimination based on racial categories was evident in the vibrant gay and lesbian enclaves of Harlem and Greenwich Village during the 20s and 30s, with Harlem hosting its own African-American community while still being open to the occasional appearance of a white homosexual, but with Greenwich Village being exclusively white . Because the Gay Liberation Front occurred after the Civil Rights Movement, however, it would seem that racial lines within LGBT communities would not be drawn so rigidly. Just a peek at such documentaries as Paris is Burning and Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria , however, offers undeniable evidence of considerable racial discrimination. "

Tags:LGBT, homosexual, queer

Abstract
This paper attempts to define the nature of an individualist or collectivist culture or society and what are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting one of these culture values to individuals and other people. It examines how individualist cultures tend to be self-dependent, while collectivist ones are group-dependent and how these two culture dichotomies affect a wide range of activities and interactions among people, such as family relations and social interactions, education, work and personal achievement.

From the Paper
"Collectivists are less competitive, but are more cooperative in the education and work environment. These traits are important if the primary aim is to prevent any tensions among other people, which is of primary importance to collectivist cultures. Although individualist and collectivist cultures are different from each other, performance and achievement between these two cultures tend to balance out because being a high achiever (an individualist trait) or a cooperative (a collectivist trait) individual helps in the positive achievement of an activity and goal."

Tags:trust, socirty, environment, groups, performance, achievement