Participation of the Peasants of Southern Ukraine in the Cooperative Movement as a Factor in the Modernization of the Social Estate

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the potential influence of cooperatives on the modernization of the
social condition of the peasantry in the direction of their acquisition of features of a capitalist society. Paying attention to this
social group is due to its quantitative dominance and stability of the traditional worldview.
The scientific novelty of the research results lies in the insufficient study of the problem, the lack of specialized works on
the materials of the South of Ukraine.
Сonclusion. The spread of the cooperative movement in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. can be
interpreted as one of the signs of the formation of modern society. At the same time, cooperatives acted as catalysts for these
changes. The very structure and form of participation in the societies was to promote the development of entrepreneurial traits,
an active economic position, and the gradual involvement of the population in commodity-money relations through cooperation
and interaction. In the South of Ukraine, a high degree of involvement of peasants in the activities of credit cooperatives
and demand for cooperative loans was observed. Which can already demonstrate their readiness for transformations. By
providing loans to the population on acceptable terms, accepting monetary contributions at interest, and carrying out sales
and supply operations, the companies created conditions for improving the condition of peasant farms, increasing their
productivity and competitiveness. The activities of credit cooperative societies also influenced the transformation of traditional
views on monetary income, contributed to the acquisition of experience in financial operations. The participation of peasants
in agricultural cooperatives had a positive effect on the development of their farms, using practical examples to demonstrate
the advantages of the achievements of agrarian sciences, which formed the readiness for their adoption and implementation.
Under the influence of the activities of agricultural cooperatives, the peasants introduced new agricultural crops, machinery
and equipment, soil processing technologies in their farms, which generally contributed to the increase in productivity. The
participation of peasants in the cultural and educational activities of cooperatives can serve as a confirmation of the state’s
readiness to acquire new knowledge and changes in the traditional way of farming. Under the influence of the activities of
cooperative libraries, courses, lectures, consultations, exhibitions and excursions, the peasants resorted to the rationalization
of agriculture. Therefore, the participation of peasants in the cooperative movement of the late 19th – early 20th centuries.
was one of the factors of socio-economic, worldview changes in the direction of the formation of commodity-money relations.