2008/05/21 by Hiroaki Kuromiya · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Soviet and Russian History #Russia and Soviet political economy #Famine #Ukrainian #Political science #Context (archaeology) #Genocide #Intentionality #Economic history #Ethnic group #Development economics #History #Political economy #Sociology #Law #Philosophy #Economics #Epistemology
paper · doi:10.1080/09668130801999912
openalex publication_date 2008/05/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Recent advances in research on the 1932–1933 Soviet famine, most notably the monograph by R. W. Davies and S. G. Wheatcroft [2004, The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–1933 (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan)], have generated a debate, involving Michael Ellman and Mark Tauger, on the pages of this journal. The present essay re-examines this debate in two areas: intentionality (did Stalin cause the famine in order to kill millions?) and the Ukrainian factor (was the famine a Ukrainian ethnic genocide?). I argue that there is not enough evidence to answer in the affirmative. The essay concludes by discussing the international context of the famine as a factor of critical importance.