Hunger and scarcity under state-socialism

Detailed research on “socialist famines” has only just begun within the past twenty years. On the one hand, the opening of these countries and consequently access to their archives has facilitated a more detailed calculation of the demographic consequences and a better understanding of the political decisions made when faced with the starving masses. On the other hand, only joint research projects by domestic as well as foreign academics has enabled a combination of overarching questions with local case studies and, therefore, a more detailed assessment of central government decisions with respect to the vulnerability of the local and regional populations. This process of accessing archives and undertaking unbiased research is by no means yet concluded; it is, however, possible to give an overview of the research progress to date as well as compare and integrate it into a global perspective.