Moral dilemmas of globalisation: polish agriculture at the crossroads.

Gilarek, Katarzyna ; Mooney, Patrick H. ; Gorlach, Krzysztof 等

Introduction

Proponents of globalisation often write or speak as if this development is a process unencumbered by moral issues. That is, as if the globalisation process was simply a `natural' and ultimately inevitable phenomenon, driven by the demands of `efficiency'. This amoral quality seems especially the case when the discourse of globalisation is grounded in, and confined to, neo-classical economic modeling. Nevertheless, it is increasingly evident in the protests and opposition to globalisation that are emergent in a variety of locales throughout the world that globalisation presents moral concerns to many of those individual and collective actors who confront its power in their everyday lives. Indeed, it can be argued that globalisation has inspired a variety of new social movements in response to its felt influence. The diversity of forms of acceptance or resistance to globalisation is grounded in the fact, noted by McMichael (2000: xxxvii) that "Globalisation is ultimately a local phenomenon". Thus, each place will construct a specific response to the impacts of globalisation on that particular region, given its history, its geography, its social and political organisation, its culture, etc. Thus, it is not only economic capital factors that influence the response to globalisation, but it is also the political, social and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1985) of the locale that mediate historically specific adaptations to this uneven process.

This paper addresses the particular case of rural Poland's confrontation with globalisation. We highlight the moral dilemmas presented by the push for global restructuring at an historical moment in which Poland has only quite recently regained the possibility of national sovereignty after decades of struggle against Soviet political domination. Our discussion emphasises the cultural and historical factors that make the case of Poland somewhat unique and recognises that the adjustments and effects of globalisation vary enormously across situations and sectors. Though the focus is on Poland, the experiences we describe are shared to some degree with other nations that were formerly under the Soviet sphere of influence. However, compared with such countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and the former Soviet Republic, Poland has been relatively successful in its experience with its transition and subsequent encounter with the forces of globalisation.

Clarifying Terms

Discussion of globalisation and the associated moral dilemmas demands an attempt to define these slippery terms. Moral dilemmas imply the necessity of making choices between two (or more) possibilities, both (or all) of which are deeply embedded in certain values. In other words, one must evaluate the efficacy or utility of certain courses of action from the point of view of anticipated and valued outcomes. Aside from the fact that the outcomes themselves are nearly impossible to predict (as there are nearly always unintended consequences), the difficulties stem from the fact that actors (individuals and groups) differentially value various outcomes and that this diverse evaluation is not always reducible (as some economists would have it) to a single form of value, such as money. Moreover, even agreement on ends rarely comes with agreement on the means of achieving those ends. Certainly, means are as much a matter of moral concern as are the ends that they serve.

We understand globalisation as a central driving force behind current forms of rapid social change. It is an historically unprecedented process with regard to four spatio-temporal dimensions: the extensiveness of global networks, the intensity of global interconnectedness, the velocity of global flows, and the impact propensity of global interconnectedness (Held, et al. 1999:17). Especially since 1989, Poland has experienced rapid development along each of these dimensions. Poland's interest in EU accession can be seen as an attempt to accept this global role but to buffer or regulate its impacts through integration with a set of institutions characterised by McMichael (1994) as "global region restructuring". As noted by Sinclair (2001), this "massive shakeout" induced by globalisation (Giddens 1996) creates moral dilemmas in the form of great opportunities for, as well as challenges to, human progress. The Human Development Report (United Nations 1999:2), suggests one such moral dilemma: "... competitive markets may be the best guarantee of efficiency, but not necessarily of equity.... When the market goes too far in dominating social and political outcomes, the opportunities and rewards of globalisation spread unequally and inequitably--concentration of power and wealth in a select group of people, nations and corporations, marginalising the others".

Levels of analysis

McMichael (1994) has analyzed rural and agrarian restructuring along three dimensions: state level, sectoral level, and global level. He views the process of globalisation as a movement from economic development being organised at the state or national level toward being organised at an increasingly global level. Poland's break from the Soviet sphere and entry into global markets in the early ` corresponded to increasing inequalities at the national level, even as some strides were made toward decreasing inequalities between Poland and other nations at the global level. Perhaps the sensitivity to the moral dilemmas created by this situation are intensified by the fact that the present `opportunities' for individual economic advancement are only possible due to the collective risks courageously undertaken by the Polish people in the form of `Solidarity' as a resistance movement against state socialism and Russian domination.

The `ethos' of Solidarity entailed a moral commitment to one another as a nation to create an independent Poland. The depth and value of such solidarity and commitment in Polish culture cannot be underestimated. It not only functioned as a means of eventually overthrowing an imposed state socialism, but has roots in the nationalist sentiments that were necessary to maintain Polish identity throughout the 123 year (1795-1918) period of partitions in which Poland as such was not recognised as a nation. The Polish peasants' `inward turn' was equally important in the success of these historically and culturally significant identity maintenance projects. In this sense, rural Poland's reluctance to fully embrace globalisation, or even European integration, should surprise no one. At the present moment, it seems as if the very success of that national solidarity has resulted in an antithetical `new game' that appears to reward a sort of Durkheimian "amoral individualism" as a functional substitute for national solidarity. For some, the dream of national independence seems threatened by a new subordination to the EU.

Globalisation has altered the distribution of both global and national wealth. At the global level, Poland's integration might increase its chances as a nation to gradually approach the rich countries. However, globalisation has coincided with increasing domestic inequalities, perhaps too difficult to resolve at the state level. Nevertheless, the process of adjustment to the EU standards has facilitated deep reforms in the national welfare system (e.g., health care, pension programs, and education) as well as in agriculture and rural development. Most Poles appear to want some state level protection from the insecurity and risks of globalisation. As Gorlach points out (2000: 71), from 1989 to 1993, "peasants addressed [approximately half of] their demands and grievances to national institutions, namely: government, parliament, president (i.e. state authorities), etc. Even when local authorities or managers were the direct object of their protests they were treated in many cases as go-betweens and were obliged by protesters to present peasant demands to their supervisors, i.e. the state institutions". In the countryside, state intervention is still highly expected. Again, Poland's pending integration into European Union may be seen as an attempt to reduce the `painfulness' of global interconnectedness, as a form of regulated or managed globalisation that aims to provide the broadest possible social security in otherwise unsafe and highly volatile markets.

Alternatives

Strategic thinking about the integration of Polish agriculture can be either short-term or long-term. On one hand, the best solution seems to be a rapid adjustment along the lines of a second `shock therapy' that would drive out the less competitive. This perspective fits the demands of economic efficiency brought by the global market but raises practical economic questions concerning the possibilities of reallocating labor as well as moral issues concerning society's responsibility for the dislocated. On the other hand, Western European interests in healthy food are becoming more than fashion but also an alternative to the risks brought by industrial agriculture and genetically modified food. In the face of Europe's recent problems with `mad cow' and `foot and mouth' diseases, Poland's `modernised backwardness' might turn out to be a long term comparative advantage. It is interesting that Mr. Sinclair's advocacy of Australian development of specialty food crops (e.g., table grapes and pecans); the development of a rural service sector (especially in the form of tourism); and increased educational opportunities overlaps considerably with proposed Polish rural development schemes. However, this would imply long term investment strategies, a patient wait for the economic benefits and long term perspectives in social policy making that usually do not coincide with the demands for immediate profitability and efficiency rewarded by the global markets. This is a very difficult choice for a relative latecomer to the EU whose goal is to approach the core in the shortest possible time.

Rural conditions and declining support for European integration

Rural Poland accounts for more than 80 percent of the country's total area and well over 30 percent of the population, a much larger rural population than is typical of European Union countries. The Polish countryside remains comparatively underdeveloped and impoverished relative to urban Poland. The Human Development Index (HDI) shows rural areas are far below the urban average. In 1997, Poland's per capita GDP for rural areas was only $6,116, compared to $8,892 for urban areas (see Human Development ..., 2000). Poland is, in a sense, two countries: an urban Poland that meets highly-developed country standards, and a rural Poland that approximates so-called "Third World" conditions. This is especially significant in the context of integration with the European Union. Rural residents' lack of support for European integration is a key impediment in Poland's bid to join the EU. Krzyminiewska (1998) shows that until the mid-1990s, almost 70 percent of rural residents approved Polish membership in the ELI. In urban areas, integration enjoyed the support of 85 percent of those polled. By the latter 1990s, support for accession did not exceed 40 percent among rural residents, and 30 percent among farmers. The number of those describing EU accession as favorable for Poland's agriculture decreased from 32 percent in 1994 to 18 percent in 1999. Between 1994 and 1999, the number of rural residents expecting to lose, rather than gain, from integration increased from 15 to 27 percent. Notably, acceptance of integration among rural residents tends to increase with education and financial status (Nawojczyk 1995; Roguska 2000).

In the context of globalisation pressures, Polish rural development calls for rapid transfer and implementation of modern technology, increased importance of information, and intensified trade of goods and services across national, regional and continental borders. There is considerable fear of the loss of Polish economic decision-making freedom to multinational corporations and international capital. Two critical issues in the negotiations over Polish integration are whether non-Polish EU citizens will have the right to buy Polish farm land and the extent to which Polish citizens will have full access to EU labor markets. Both of these issues are related to agricultural restructuring in fundamental ways.

Globalisation's impact on various sectors

The new conditions of globalisation require profound structural adjustments in the agricultural economy and in the professional and educational standards of farm workers and owners. Changes in farming can be analysed along 3 dimensions: 1) changes in ownership (the share of the private sector already increased to more than 91 percent of the total arable land area, with family-run farms accounting for 77.2 percent of the total area); 2) growth of the farm land market (land market transactions increased in the 1990s by more than 30 percent, while non-market transactions declined by nearly 29 percent); and 3) concentration of land and polarisation of the agrarian structure (the number of private farms decreased from 1988-1996 at a faster rate than in the entire 40-year period after World War II).

Poland's agriculture can be classified as consisting of three sectors in relation to market orientation and commercial potential. There is a non-commercial sector of farms producing exclusively or chiefly for their own needs. Some of these do not even cultivate their land. This accounts for almost 70 percent of all farms and nearly a third of all arable land but claims almost half the labor expended in agricultural production. This sector accounts for less than 5 percent of all official farm production. The sector has largely failed to embrace the dynamic development of the agricultural economy. The sector is characterised by a large share of pensioners and `farms' deriving incomes from non-agricultural sources; large areas of fallow land; labor-intensive production; low levels of production and productivity reflecting dependence on non-agricultural income. The sector defies a clear assessment. Though it features low technical efficiency, the sector also functions to create opportunities for ventures into various new forms of non-agricultural economic activity and to retain farmers as part of their local communities. To some extent, globalisation of agricultural commodity markets are irrelevant to this commercially marginal subsector. However, if Polish farm land markets are `globalised' by European integration, the commodification of this land area may have serious repercussions throughout the rural economy, especially in subverting the function of this sector as a buffer against low incomes in the underdeveloped, unstable labor markets. Further, any rapid and strong concentration or elimination of this sector would seriously impact rural society and culture insofar as daily activities, family ties and local political structures are, in large part, constructed with elements of this economic sector.

At the other end of the continuum is a commercial sector with average production exceeding 15,000 PLN [approximately U.S. $4,000]. This sector is more typical of well-developed market economies in terms of efficiency, integration (contractual ties) with non-agricultural sectors and entrepreneurs who are innovative, creative and prepared to take risks. Many are well-managed farms interested in expanding and increasing their efficiency. This sector accounts for less than 10 percent of all farms but slightly more than 40 percent of all arable land. It supplies more than 70 percent of all produce to the market, while accounting for less than 20 percent of the labor expended in Poland's agricultural production. The regulated globalisation of EU integration will most likely facilitate the expansion of this sector through increased production, efficiency and the introduction of new agricultural production systems rather than through an expansion in the number of farms or an increase in farm area. Globalisation will likely continue to push this sector away from the traditional multi-functional (diverse) farm model toward integrated systems for the production, processing and distribution of specialised commodities. However, this requires an intensive development of infrastructure in the form of, not only economic capital investment, but also institutional development. In EU countries, government agencies and a strong cooperative movement in rural areas play this role. In Poland, the Agricultural Market Agency is the main institution with such responsibilities, while the plan to revive the cooperative movement has yet to produce significant results. It remains to be seen how Polish governmental agencies will interface with corresponding ELI agencies, or whether Western European cooperative institutions will play a role in facilitating Poland's weak cooperative movement.

A third sector lies between the non-commercial sector and the most commercially oriented sector. This intermediate sector includes farms with an average value of production between 2,501-14,999 PLN [approximately U.S. $600-$4000] and contains almost 31% of arable land and 22% of farms. About one third of people involved in agriculture work in this sector. Its value of production is almost 22% of the whole agricultural product. In the face of the polarising pressures of globalisation, it can be argued that these farms are least likely to survive as such in the long term. The deepening disparity of incomes generated by this group of agricultural producers, accompanied by growing aspirations among farm families, will likely force these farmers to substantially reorient their operations. One possibility is that some will continue to farm, moving to the commercial sector. This would require major increases in market orientation and productivity, thus effecting only a limited number of agricultural producers in the sector. The other possibility involves a gradual limitation (elimination) of agricultural activity and allocation of labor and capital outside agriculture. This sector will probably experience a gradual yet significant transformation of both agricultural and non-agricultural activity in rural Poland. The implications of such a change in this sector in terms of regional and national food security are not clear, but must be considered in planning for structural adjustment of rural areas.

State and market in rural development

In 1996, average investment spending by Polish farms on non-agricultural activities was 2.3 times higher than expenditure on agricultural activities. Regions in western and northern Poland generated an especially favorable multiplier effect for the development of rural areas and agriculture. In some areas, agriculture will most likely have to rely on funds from the state budget, funding from the EU (including the SAPARD program), the World Bank and other sources.

Since the process of "marketisation" in Poland started in the agricultural sector (Wilkin 2000), income parity reached 151 percent in 1989. Then, under the Balcerowicz's "shock therapy", it dropped to 49 percent in 1991 and to 40 percent in 1998, the lowest for the last few decades. This means that peasants are perceived to have suffered the highest cost of transformation of any segment of the Polish population. Orlowski (2000:12) estimates that approximately 1-1.5 million of Polish peasants will have to find a different occupation within the next 20 years. The assumption that pure market mechanisms will solve this labour problem remains extremely problematic. Not surprisingly, support for interventionist policies, such as purchasing of food products or high import tariffs is extremely high (90% and 86%, respectively). Only 44% of Poles think that the number of people working in agriculture should be reduced (Centre for Public Opinion Research 1999:5). Competition in the form of increased labour supply to the labour market threatens the already weak position of current wage workers (Gilarek 2001). For some, the dilemma is whether or not to protect those who are unsuccessful in the new economic situation. For policy makers, the dilemma is why the rule `to sink or swim' should be applied exclusively to Polish farmers, and not to those who work in other nonremunerative sectors of the Polish economy. The outcome of such policy might be the creation of regional pockets of persistent poverty and a rural Polish underclass where unemployment and poverty are handed down from one generation to another.

Governmental policies in Poland, as in many nations, play a crucial role in stimulating economic activities in rural areas. These policies are worked out by the government in consultation with representatives of leading agricultural organisations. Increasingly, the drive toward integration with the EU establishes more and more policy influence in Brussels. An illustration of this is the "Pact for Agriculture and Rural Areas," the content of which largely coincides with EU interests regarding Polish accession. This report included the following 4 `pillars': 1) support for agriculture and its environment through subsidy of certain commodities and credit, more favorable tax policy, support for creation of producer groups and support of technical development in food production and processing; 2) support for the development of technical infrastructure and entrepreneurship oriented toward the creation of new jobs outside agriculture and protection of the non-agricultural rural environment; 3) a comprehensive social policy vis-a-vis the development of rural areas through investment in education, health care, recreational facilities; and 4) the establishment of institutions for social dialogue and participation in development. However, the pact has yet to enter a legislative path, not to mention its comprehensive implementation.

Finally, Poland's low consumption of mineral fertilisers (two to three times less than the OECD average) and pesticide consumption (seven times less than the OECD average) point to another moral dilemma in Polish rural development. It is olden argued that Polish peasants should not follow the resource depleting, polluting habits of the advanced countries. However, the broader issue is whether some societies have a greater right to destroy the environment because they have been doing it longer or have invented the means of destruction? Should less developed nations that are belatedly integrating into global exchange networks, be restrained from using the resource exploitative techniques that enabled developed nations to achieve their current economic advantage. Thus, the dilemma of sustainable development that faces all societies takes a peculiar twist in Poland where the `backwardness' may provide certain advantages (such as `green production' and agritourist possibilities) while at the same time denying Poland the same opportunities available to the already developed nations.

Conclusion

To conclude, rural Poland's adjustment to a managed form of globalisation via conformity to EU standards shall at least partially answer the question of what kind of society Poland would be in the future and what kind of values will prevail. Globalisation creates a wide spectrum of moral dilemmas not only for policy makers but also for the entire society, which in its collective actions will undoubtedly start to shape its trajectory towards a globalised world. The economism underpinning the main currents of globalisation (McMichael 2000) will challenge other cultural values creating moral dilemmas related to nationalist sentiments, social solidarity, environmental protection, etc. The often neglected moral component of globalisation is reflected in Etzioni's concern that "cost-benefit analysis" has proliferated "into realms in which it has no place" (1993:27). Among the most striking and immediate dilemmas for rural Poland are those raised by Poland's pending `regulated globalisation' in the form of EU integration. For example, negotiations over the opening of Polish farm land for sale to non-Polish citizens reflect the possible short-term economic benefits of foreign capital investment versus the traditional cultural value of defending Polish lands from foreign possession. The outcome of those negotiations will impact negotiation over the mobility of Polish labour since foreign investment in Polish farmland will undoubtedly accelerate the expulsion of rural Poles from the countryside in search of work across Europe. In this case the dilemma is that, for some, the mobility of capital is a greater priority than the mobility of people (labour).

These economic development issues are related to concerns over the environmental and cultural quality of rural Poland. This dilemma involves the possibility of rendering rural Poland no different than the rest of rural Europe as opposed to protecting and preserving it. However, in this case, there is an argument that the very protection and preservation of rural Poland might be an economic benefit in relation to `green' food production and agritourist development. This raises provocative questions about the amoral tendencies of globalisation's subsequent levelling of cultural (and thus, moral) differences except to the extent that such difference can be commodified as folk art, cuisine, green environments, or even, as in the case of agri-tourism, in the postmodernist commodification of the very image of the Polish peasant as producer taking precedence over that peasant's actual production. As a nation with a long history and recent memory of both foreign occupation and food insecurity, such moral dilemmas have powerful roots in the Polish experience and are sure to shape their response to the forces of globalisation.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Foundation for Polish Science (Domestic Grants for Young Scholars 2002), the Polish-American Fulbright Fellowship Program, and the German Marshall Fund for the United States for research support associated with this article.

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