The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the National Museum of Agriculture invite scholars to submit abstracts for the international academic conference: Agricultural Collectivization in the Soviet Sphere of Influence, taking place in Prague on 22–23 October 2025.
This two-day conference will explore the multifaceted history of agricultural collectivization across countries that fell under Soviet influence after the Second World War. The forced transformation of rural areas under communist rule—through land confiscation, establishment of collective and state farms, repression of independent farmers, and imposition of ideological models—remains one of the most defining and dramatic aspects of post-war European history.
While collectivization was meant to restructure agrarian societies according to communist principles, its speed, intensity, and outcomes varied significantly across the region. The organizers seek to examine these differences and commonalities by focusing on economic, political, and social dimensions.
Suggested topics include:
• Changes in land ownership and agrarian reform
• The distortion of cooperative principles and economic impacts
• Resistance, repression, and mechanisms of control
• Personal accounts and the role of marginalized or targeted groups
• The long-term legacy of collectivization and post-communist restitution
Conference languages: English, Czech, Slovak
Presentation length: up to 20 minutes
Publication: Selected papers will be included in a peer-reviewed volume
Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 August 2025
Submit your proposal here here.
Accommodation during the conference will be provided for accepted speakers. The organizers reserve the right to select participants.