Voluntary Work or Coerced Labour?
Albania between 1945 and the 1990s
Introduction
Under communism, the mobilisation of voluntary workers played an important role for the Albanian economy as well as the self-conception of socialist society. Since 1945, the Albanian Communist Party proclaimed voluntary work as being a pure act of individual voluntary action, based on the love for the homeland and the “Mother Party”. In 1946, the first communist constitution of Albania stated that all those able to work should be mobilised for voluntary work.
The same year, communist leader Koçi Xoxe stressed the economic and political importance of voluntary work, especially with regard to the younger generations of Albanians. Young people of all age and gender should join the army of volunteers and fight the political opponents of communism. In a similar manner, the main communist leader Enver Hoxha coined the following slogan in 1967: “If I were 20 years old, I would gladly go to live and work in the beautiful socialist village!”.
Over the years of the communist regime, media and educational institutions subsequently integrated this idea of voluntariness and helped to transform it into a political ideology. “Education”, “work” and “military” as well as “physical exercise” formed the four pillars of the Albanian school curricula, supposed to promote socialist consciousness and socialist values as well as to create a new generation of good communists.
Between 1946 and 1986, thousands of Albanians, many of them youth and minors, “volunteered” to build up Albania after a long period of poverty and foreign occupation. They worked in (industrial) construction and agricultural projects, such as the construction of infrastructure and housing, marsh drainage, the electrification of remote areas of Albania, etc.
Those who were reluctant to volunteer and did not follow the general ideological line of the Communist Party faced severe consequences. They could lose their social status, jobs and families and friends and suffered serious consequences such as imprisonment and persecution, forced eviction from the city and were considered unworthy for socialist society.
At the same time, voluntary work took many Albanians’ lives. The 14-year-old Shkurte Pal Vata lost her life while volunteering in the construction of the Rrogozhin-Fier railway. She was killed by a landslide that hit the railway tracks during the construction works. She was declared as “Heroine of Socialist Labour” by the communist state. Many deaths were caused by work accidents. Since work technology and work methods were outdated, a lot of work was performed manually without industrial health and safety standards. While the Communist Party proclaimed the dead as martyrs and promoted them as positive examples for others, the Albanian communist leaders were to face severe trouble upon the publication of a detailed report from the US-American government in 1955. The report denounced the infliction of forced voluntary work on political opponents and so-called “reluctant people” as well as on minors by the means of intimidation during the years 1945-1955. The abuses were presented to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
After 1986, voluntary work became restricted to agriculture and irrigation and was only allowed on weekends, because the most important and major works had already been completed. Moreover, the death of the Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha played a major role in transforming the understanding of voluntary work in Albania. He was the driving force behind voluntary work in Albania after 1945. After 1986, the Albanian economy faced severe financial difficulties. People lived in poverty and dissatisfaction steadily grew. The communist state began to disintegrate, since the ideological identification of the Albanian people with the state declined. In 1990, the communist state finally collapsed.
Selected Literature
Since the 1990s, when Albania entered a new political era, new scholarship has heavily criticized the communist idea of voluntary work as a euphemism to coerced labour in difficult working environments. At present, very few parts of Albanian society still see the “voluntary” mobilisation of workers in a romantic and nostalgic light. Contemporary scholars have a much more critical view on the coercive conditions of this form of labour mobilisation.
Referring to the recent literature, Enver Hoxha is characterised as a dictator and the casualties formerly celebrated as socialist martyrs are now declared victims of the dictatorship. The communist concept of voluntary work is considered as an act of depreciation of people.
The political scientist Çelo Hoxha even goes as far as to compare the socialist voluntary work to slave labour in ancient times. He points to the fact that the communist regime in Albania defended a contradictory concept of work: While it theoretically opposed long working hours under difficult working conditions, it forced people, especially minors considered to be manipulated easily, into “voluntary” work.
Valeria Dedaj, on the other hand, interprets the socialist concept of voluntary work as an attempt to implement a process of mutual negotiation between the communist authorities and the Albanian people.
In return, Andi Bregu points to an important long-term shift in the conception of voluntary work. In “Volunteering: Sensitivity to change the world”, he argues that voluntariness in the post-socialist era has taken a much more comprehensive perspective on labour: Instead of the old communist meaning of forced volunteer work, it is now rather built on the free will of the individual. Voluntariness now departs from the principle that commitment must be guaranteed and the voluntary character of work must be respected in all forms. The legal framework, however, still exhibits considerable gaps to be fully functional.
List of Literature Cited
Enver Hoxha Superfuqite. (Italian edition), 1959-1984 Selected parts from Enver Hoxha political diary. http://www.enverhoxha.ru/Archive_of_books/Italiano/enver_hoxha_le_superpotenze_it.pdf
Bregu, Andi. Vullnetarizmi, ndjeshmëri për të ndryshuar Botën, July 13, 2015, revista online MAP: https://mjaft.org/map/vullnetarizmi-ndjeshmeri-per-te-ndryshuar-boten-nga-andi-bregu/
Hoxha, Çelo. Puna vullnetare, një eufemizëm për skllavërinë, Jan 28, 2013, Gazeta Standard. http://www.standard.al/2013/01/28/puna-vullnetare-nje-eufemizem-per-skllaverine/
Hoxha, Celo. Refleksion mbi: Nje bie, mijera ngrihen. Liber i kushtuar Heroines te Punes Socioaliste: Shkurte Pal Vata. 1968. http://www.radiandradi.com/abuzimi-me-nje-minorene-shkurte-pal-vata-celo-hoxha/
Instituti i Studimeve Marksiste-Leniniste Prane Kq T2 PPSH. Dokumente Kryesore Të Partise Se Punes të Shqiperise. Vellimi V, Shtepia botuese “8 Nentori”, TIRANË, 1974. https://www.marxists.org/shqip/subjekt/dokumente-shqiptare/ppsh/dokumentet_kryesore/05/vellimi5.1.pdf
Raporti amerikan: Si i shfrytëzonte Enver Hoxha me punë të detyruar kundërshtarët politikë, “Zëri i popullit”, 19 Nëntor 1967 https://javanews.al/raporti-amerikan-si-i-shfrytezonte-enver-hoxha-me-pune-te-detyruar-kundershtaret-politike/
Stafa, Florenc. Dedaj, Valeria. Kur bëhej punë vullnetare për elektrifikim e së përditshmes, Gazeta Shekulli, 28. 09. 2013 http://shekulli.com.al/31426/
Vullnetarë me dhunë në aksion, revolta e të rinjve lezhjanë në ’46, 15 Dhjetor, 2018 09:09 Revista elektronike Kujto.al https://kujto.al/vullnetare-me-dhune-ne-aksion-revolta-e-te-rinjve-lezhjane-ne-46/
Xoxe, Koçi. Aksionistët vullnetarë, si do t’i përdorim politikisht si grusht ndaj reaksionit, 4 Dhjetor, 2018 10:15, Revista elektronike Kujto.al https://kujto.al/koci-xoxe-aksionistet-vullnetare-si-do-ti-perdorim-politikisht-si-grusht-ndaj-reaksionit/