ABSTRACT
When we visited Brigade 481 for the first time in 1987, we came to understand how the life in a brigade was organized. The workers had broken away from their families of origin and become integrated in production collectives. As state employees they received salaries, and had access to nursery and kindergarten, health care and pensions – things coveted by the farmers. They worked to reach targets set up by the state and the best of them were rewarded quarterly by moral incentives and bonuses. Their relationships were production-based in contrast to the lineage-based bonds of the old farmer families. Moreover, we got to know how the financial crisis of the state had affected the workers.
