The Cooperative Ideal of M. V. Levitsky as a ‘Leader of the cooperative movement’ – the Illusion of the Social Equilibrium
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Abstract
The purpose of the article is to highlight the life of the founder of the first agricultural artel in Ukraine, an
outstanding Ukrainian cooperator, public figure Mykola V. Levytsky, who was called ‘The leader of the cooperative movement’ for his consistent promotion of the cooperative ideal in Ukrainian society in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries.
The scientific novelty of the study is determined by the combination of historical and historiographical discourses in assessing the applied application of Levytsky cooperative ideas for the organizational and economic activities of peasants.
The author reveals the original connection between the socio-political, educational, and state forms of individual participation of ‘The leader of the cooperative movement’ as well as his mental and worldview motivation. The socialist delusions of the ‘Narodniks’ were realized in Levytsky agricultural artels, but in those years they did not have the typical features of cooperative societies. The author sheds light on his “opposition” attitude to the Soviet government, especially in the late 20s of the twentieth
century.
The research methodology is based on modern methods of biography, as well as classical scientific and historical
technologies (historical and comparative, problematic and chronological, textual). The dynamism of social forms and political systems in the revolutionary years required a balanced application of the structural-functional approach, a critical attitude to the worldview and mental transformations of the individual, and their original dualism in everyday life.
The author’s conclusions. The phenomenon of Levitsky agricultural artels was that they were the first forms of collective land cultivation, organization of joint work, and distribution of its results among the participants in production. For the first time, the folk ideal of social equality became a reality, demonstrating the advantages and disadvantages of “collective” farming. ‘The leader of the cooperative movement’ turned out to be a great dreamer and optimist who never betrayed his own
understanding of the cooperative ideal.
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References
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