Project description
Feeding famine research with more information
Despite the remarkable achievements of modern economic growth, famines continue to cause misery and undermine development policies in the poorest regions of the world. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions TsarsFAMINE project will create important inputs in the research of regional economic inequality and famine. It investigates famine intensity and famine relief strategies in regions of the Russian Empire between 1891 and 1911, constructing the first comprehensive database of demographic and agricultural statistics at the county level. An analysis of the database will identify the causes of famine, including the role of trade policy. The project will also examine the effectiveness of famine relief strategies. Findings are slated to provide insight for further study of modern famines and global famine relief.
Objective
The turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century witnessed transformational changes in the Russian economy, marked by rapid integration into global markets and state-led industrialization. In the same period, Russian society faced dramatic crises, the most devastating of which were a series of famines that cost millions of lives. Both dimensions of development have been subject to extensive study, but the fundamental disconnect between these historiographies leaves a yawning knowledge gap. TsarsFAMINE will conduct a systematic examination of famine intensity and famine relief strategies in regions of the Russian Empire between 1891 and 1911, constructing the first comprehensive database of demographic and agricultural statistics at the county level. Using this novel and unique database, a multi-variate analysis will identify the causes of famine including the potentially significant role of trade policy. The project will then combine quantitative and qualitative sources and analytical methods to examine the effectiveness of different famine-relief strategies adopted in different provinces of Russia over the twenty-year period. TsarsFAMINE advance the state-of-the-art in several ways. It will improve our understanding of the deeper socio-economic outcomes of the state policies that propelled the industrialization of late imperial Russia. It will contribute to the broader literature on the effectiveness of famine relief exploiting a richly documented historical case study with significant variation in famine intensity and famine relief policies. The project promises important insights for development experts and international institutions that engage in the study of modern famines and engage in global famine relief. TsarsFAMINE will be a major accelerator in the career of the researcher, who will benefit from relevant expertise and training opportunities at the host institutions, expand her international network, and advance her research agenda.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinator
20136 Milano
Italy