ABSTRACT
The problems facing rural households and villages in Russia ultimately must be framed within the constraints imposed by the globalization of the world economy and agriculture. The overriding trend in world agriculture is the reduction and eventual elimination of subsidies and tariffs. This chapter shows that substantial number of rural households have begin the process of adapting to the demands of the market economy. Demands for protectionism and subsidies are not coming from peasant households, but rather from the large enterprises and the political figures at the local, regional and national levels that are the primary source of resistance to change. The biggest challenge in institutional development is the creation of member owned and managed cooperatives. The cooperative movement has been an essential element in the development of family farming in the United States and other countries. The chapter outlines the institutional structure of rural life in the Soviet and immediate Post-Soviet periods.
