Historical Evolution of the Social Status of Agricultural Workers in Kyrgyzstan (1930-1980)

Abstract

The article comprehensively examines the historical evolution of the social status of agricultural workers in Kyrgyzstan between 1930 and 1980. The relevance of the research is determined by the necessity of analyzing the Soviet agrarian policy experience to develop evidence-based approaches for addressing contemporary socio-economic challenges in rural areas. Based on archival data, the study reviews the transition from the "labor day" system of the collectivization period to the guaranteed cash remuneration in the era of "developed socialism". The author places particular emphasis on the formation of the rural intelligentsia, the role of women in social production, and the policy of transforming villages into "urban-type settlements". The work employs a historical-comparative method to analyze the dynamics of the rural population's living standards. As a main conclusion, it is proved that while the reforms of the 1960s and 1970s brought rural welfare closer to urban standards, the economic stagnation of the 1980s revealed the model's vulnerability due to its total reliance on state subsidies and exposed social contradictions such as labor shortages.