The Social and Demographic Development of the Azerbaidzhan Countryside (1960-1970s)

Abstract

Of late, there has been a perceptible increase in interest in the study of the history and demography of the modern Soviet countryside, without which it is impossible to conceive the dynamics of its economy and social structure.¹ The Twentieth Session of the All-Union Symposium on the Study of Agrarian History (Tallinn, September 24-28, 1984) made a substantial contribution to the elaboration of these issues.² V. Z. Drobizhev and Iu. A. Poliakov called attention to the significance of demographic research.³ For Azerbaidzhani historiography, the scientific interpretation of the social and demographic aspects of the modern countryside has acquired additional significance in that until recently there was a lag in the elaboration of the topic, notwithstanding research published by economists in this area in the late '70s and early '80s.⁴ Of the myriad questions associated with the social and demographic development of the Azerbaidzhan countryside in the '60s and '70s, the present article deals with the most important: the dynamics of population size, labor resources, and the social-class structure.