Ideology and economics: Cooperative organization and attitudes toward collectivization in two Hungarian communities

Conclusion In this paper I have attempted to examine the relationship between the economic success or failure of two agricultural cooperatives, their social and economic organization and the members' attitude toward collectivization. As we saw there is a relationship between the members' positive attitude toward collectivization, the economic success of the cooperative and its internal organization. It would be tempting at this point to suggest the causal primacy of one of these factors in giving rise to the others. Decentralized cooperative structure and individualized work organization, for example, could be seen as being responsible both for the economic success and the members positive attitudes. In the absence of detailed longitudinal data on all these factors which charted the introduction of modifications in the organization of production against economic success in one cooperative and the lack of these in the other, such causal primacy cannot be assumed. It is possible, however, to examine briefly what the relationship between economic success, economic and social organization and attitudes imply about the emergence of the desired collective work ethic and collective ideology in the peasantry of the socialist state.In the economically successful cooperative there has been a switch from brigades to more independent work, there have been individual incentives introduced, and more liberties with the cultivation and marketing of produce from the household plots allowed — all of which may be seen as a shift to a form of individualized work. It is this individualized or non-collective form of work which seems to be connected to positive attitudes toward collectivization and which is present in the economically successful cooperative. Positive attitudes toward the collective and satisfaction with collectivization then does not necessarily mean that individuals have adjusted to collective work and does not imply a change in work ethics. Within the framework of collective ownership a highly individualized form of work organization came into being beside a parallel, flourishing private enterprise on the household plots. Where this privatization and individualization was allowed to develop, individuals are satisfied with the current status quo and the satisfaction and the work organization both seem to benefit the collective as an economic enterprise. In this generation of farmers, I suggest, it is the collective structure that adjusted to the habits and wishes of its members; the members have not adopted a cooperative work ethic.The data also indicate that what motivates the members in their work and what makes them satisfied with the cooperative are economic rewards, not a commitment to collective ideology. In Etzioni's typology of sanctions the first, moral sanction or ideological commitment, has been seen as a desired goal and an important component of the movement in the early days of collectivization in Hungary. When this commitment was found to be too weak to sustain the movement, the third kind of sanction, force, was resorted to. In recent years, both of these sanctions seem to have been increasingly abandoned in favor of instrumental sanctions or incentives, in which motivations tend to hinge on the pay-off to the producer.From the data presented on the Tiszakecske and Nagykoros cooperatives, it appears that the cooperative that took this step and was able to use instrumental incentives, while still paying lip-service to ideological commitment, gained the needed cooperation of its members. Where this alternative was not available, the use of force was no longer condoned and ideological commitment was low, the cooperation of the members was lacking and dissatisfaction reigned.Much has been said in the anthropological literature about the peasant value system in which a love of the land ranks high. The data from Tiszakecske show that peasants in that community are basically pragmatists who are interested in a pay-off, in the economic support and betterment of their families. As long as this is possible solely through the increasing accumulation of land, private ownership becomes the cornerstone of peasant cultivation. However, when other forms and means of economic improvements are offered, even the more prosperous cultivators are willing to give up their independence in return for security and less responsibility. Peasant resistance to collectivization is not based on an irrational attachment to land ownership but on a rational calculation. Where sufficient economic gain is not forthcoming from collective work, ideological incentives are not sufficient to weigh against previous economic security.As far as the desired new work ethic and socialist morality are concerned, the willingness to support the collective system for individual economic gain and the low level of commitment to its collective ideology present some problems which have been recognized by Hungarian social scientists as well. In a recent article, entitled Effectiveness and Socialist Morality , a Hungarian economist, Janos Kornai examined the contradictions inherent in the two value systems currently operating within the Hungarian economic system. On one side are the requirements for economic effectiveness, such as rationality, individual incentives, flexibility and personal responsibility. On the other side are the ethical tenets of the socialist economy which demand equality, solidarity, security, and the primacy of the collective over individual interests. Kornai feels that there is an unavoidable clash inherent in the tenets of these value systems to which he can offer no solution. Such a solution which would attempt to bring into accord the value system of socialist morality with those of a rational, effective economic system is by definition impossible, and he feels that the future of the Hungarian economy should be seen in terms of compromises.The compromises effected by the Peace and Freedom cooperative in Tiszakecske certainly seem to support the requirements of economic effectiveness. But the values of socialist morality seem to fare far less well.Marida Hollos is a Professor of Anthropology at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

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Marriage and contraception among the Pare of northern Tanzania

The purpose of the research reported here is to examine the connection between contraception and those aspects of a woman's position that are related to her marriage. The research was conducted in two villages among the Pare of northern Tanzania where a shift from hoe cultivation as primary occupation to wage labour has brought about major changes in social relations. The major hypothesis is that a change from a 'traditional' marital union to a 'companionate' marriage is instrumental in the acceptance of contraception and in lowering fertility. The latter type of relationship between marital partners is related to the status of women. The research methodology consisted of a combination of an ethnographic study, demographic surveys and in-depth interviews. Findings show that approximately half of the women in this community ever used contraception. Of current users, a third are sterilized and half are using a modern reversible method. The determining factor for using modern reversible methods is the nature of the conjugal union.     

Identification of the ligands of protein interaction domains through a functional approach

The identification of protein-protein interaction networks has often given important information about the functions of specific proteins and on the cross-talk among metabolic and regulatory pathways. The availability of entire genome sequences has rendered feasible the systematic screening of collections of proteins, often of unknown function, aimed to find the cognate ligands. Once identified by genetic and/or biochemical approaches, the interaction between two proteins should be validated in the physiologic environment. Herein we describe an experimental strategy to screen collections of protein-protein interaction domains to find and validate candidate interactors. The approach is based on the assumption that the overexpression in cultured cells of protein-protein interaction domains, isolated from the context of the whole protein, could titrate the endogenous ligand and, in turn, exert a dominant negative effect. The identification of the ligand could provide us with a tool to check the relevance of the interaction because the contemporary overexpression of the isolated domain and of its ligand could rescue the dominant negative phenotype. We explored this approach by analyzing the possible dominant negative effects on the cell cycle progression of a collection of phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domains of human proteins. Of 47 PTB domains, we found that the overexpression of 10 of them significantly interfered with the cell cycle progression of NIH3T3 cells. Four of them were used as baits to identify the cognate interactors. Among these proteins, CARM1, interacting with the PTB domain of RabGAP1, and EF1alpha, interacting with RGS12, were able to rescue the block of the cell cycle induced by the isolated PTB domain of the partner protein, thus confirming in vivo the relevance of the interaction. These results suggest that the described approach can be used for the systematic screening of the ligands of various protein-protein interaction domains also by using different biological assays.     

c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Phosphorylation of MARCKSL1 Determines Actin Stability and Migration in Neurons and in Cancer Cells

Cell migration is a fundamental biological function, critical during development and regeneration, whereas deregulated migration underlies neurological birth defects and cancer metastasis. MARCKS-like protein 1 (MARCKSL1) is widely expressed in nervous tissue, where, like Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), it is required for neural tube formation, though the mechanism is unknown. Here we show that MARCKSL1 is directly phosphorylated by JNK on C-terminal residues (S120, T148, and T183). This phosphorylation enables MARCKSL1 to bundle and stabilize F-actin, increase filopodium numbers and dynamics, and retard migration in neurons. Conversely, when MARCKSL1 phosphorylation is inhibited, actin mobility increases and filopodium formation is compromised whereas lamellipodium formation is enhanced, as is cell migration. We find that MARCKSL1 mRNA is upregulated in a broad range of cancer types and that MARCKSL1 protein is strongly induced in primary prostate carcinomas. Gene knockdown in prostate cancer cells or in neurons reveals a critical role for MARCKSL1 in migration that is dependent on the phosphorylation state; phosphomimetic MARCKSL1 (MARCKSL1(S120D,T148D,T183D)) inhibits whereas dephospho-MARCKSL1(S120A,T148A,T183A) induces migration. In summary, these data show that JNK phosphorylation of MARCKSL1 regulates actin homeostasis, filopodium and lamellipodium formation, and neuronal migration under physiological conditions and that, when ectopically expressed in prostate cancer cells, MARCKSL1 again determines cell movement.     

Migration, Education, and the Status of Women in Southern Nigeria

This article examines changes in the status of women migrants, educated and noneducated, to various urban centers in one Nigerian ethnic group. The migrants are examined in contrast to women who remained residents in the rural home community. The major focus is on male-female relations in the household. Findings indicate an erosion of the private status or domestic power of educated urban women, living in monogamous, nuclear family households.