| This dissertation is the result of ethnographic fieldwork in eastern Slovakia in the village of Kojsov during the year of 1993. The goal of the dissertation is to examine issues of the household economy in light of the "transition from communism to capitalism". At the level of the household differences between consumption and production can be revealed and reaction to opportunities from the 1989 Velvet Revolution are made lucid. Household composition, production, and consumption form the basis for the second part of this dissertation. I point out how individuals consume significantly less, produce more in kitchen gardens, and endure the financial stress of economic change. Of prime importance during this period of transition is the process of decollectivization and reprivatization of land in rural Slovakia. This process is the focus of the third and final section of the dissertation. Villagers in Kojsov are extremely slow to reprivatize their family lands. This behavior is tied to a village ethos of egalitarianism, an antipathy for stratification, and overall lack of capital necessary to take the risks integral to entrepreneurial activity. Thus both ideology and limited finances determine the fate of Kojsov's land. This dissertation is a case study which examines contemporary issues surrounding peasants, the moral economy, the "transition" to capitalism and entrepreneurship. |
