Bulletin n. 2/2011
October 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Patel Kiran Klaus
    The Paradox of Planning: German Agricultural Policy in a European Perspective, 1920s to 1970s
    in Past and Present , Volume 212, Issue 1, August ,  2011 ,  239-269
    There are two ways to narrate the history of agriculture in modern Western countries, including Germany. The first — and better-known — could be called the story of decline: between 1850 and today the percentage of the workforce employed in agriculture dropped from fifty-five to two; and the sector’s contribution to Germany’s gross domestic product fell from 6 per cent in 1960 to roughly 1 per cent today. 1 By and large, the economic, social and political leverage of agriculture shrank, initially during the course of industrialization and later during the transformation to a service society; it became Western societies’ sacrifice on the altar of modernity. What remained is a highly subsidized sector with a problematic output. Until recently, it has produced surpluses which are then either destroyed or sold to less developed countries, putting farmers there out of business. Also, agriculture is held responsible for a loss of biodiversity and other forms of environmental degradation. All in all, this interpretative framework highlights the farewell to an agrarian society and the problematic consequences that have accompanied this process. 2 The second is the triumphalist narrative. Never in human history have so few farmers been able to feed the vast majority of a country’s population. In early twentieth-century Germany, for instance, it took one farmer to produce food for four people. Today, a single farmer can feed more than 140 persons. In Europe, hunger has been eradicated in the post-war years. 3 Historians like Giovanni Federico remind us that the story of modern Western agriculture is also a story of growth — of the potentials of modern technology and of the success of political and economic planning. It was modern agriculture that led to the final victory over the Malthusian thought that had inspired and driven so many politicians, pundits and …
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