The ‘peasant problem’ in the Russian revolution(s), 1905–1929

This highly selective paper covers some key aspects but certainly not all of the ‘peasant problem’ in Russia on the cusp of the twentieth century, in the revolution of 1905–1907, the revolution of October 1917 and the civil war that followed, and during the Soviet 1920s until collectivization. Among its concerns is why the Bolsheviks found it so difficult to ‘resolve’ that problem in the 1920s to the moment of Stalin's collectivization from late 1929. A final section offers some propositions about the then and there of the Russian revolution and the here and now of peasant studies (and politics) today.