''Condition of Farm Labour in Eastern Germany'' (in German: ''Die Verhältnisse der Landarbeiter im ostelbischen Deutschland'') is a
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
written by
Maximilian Weber, a German
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...
and
sociologist, in 1892. Note that the original edition was in German and the title can be translated as "Condition of Farm Labour in Eastern Germany".
In 1890 an
association
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
(known as
Verein für Socialpolitik
The Verein für Socialpolitik (), or the German Economic Association, is an important society of economists in the German-speaking area.
History
The Verein was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question". Among its founde ...
) of scholars, government officials and other specialists decided to study the situation of
landowners in Germany. Weber assumed responsibility for reviewing data from German provinces east of the
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
River.
The situation in that part of Germany was influenced by the influx of
migratory workers from
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, with special regards to
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
and Russians, while the German labourers wanted to increase their upward
social mobility, especially by changing the traditional
labour relations of that region (workers could only become labourers on annual
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
).
However, their demands and expectations were actually putting them in a weaker position regarding the economic struggle for survival, as they were less
competitive
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
than migratory workers.
Weber analyzed those changing labour relations as a symptom of widespread changes in the entire German society.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condition Of Farm Labour In Eastern Germany
Agriculture books
1892 non-fiction books
Sociology books
Works by Max Weber
Books about Germany