collectivization

[ kuh-lek-tuh-vahy-zey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or process of organizing a people, industry, enterprise, etc., according to collectivism, an economic system in which control, especially of the means of production, is shared cooperatively or centralized:

   After World War I Russia introduced a full-scale command economy, including the collectivization of agriculture and the nationalization of almost all industrial capital.

2. the act of making something apply to a group of people as a whole rather than as individuals:

   The collectivization of guilt is a tool used to show that the community in which the crimes occurred has yet to become a community that can guarantee they will not be repeated.

Word History and Origins

Origin of collectivization¹

collectiiviz(e) ( def ) + -ation ( def )

Example Sentences

Ukrainian villages have bounced back before, from war, famine and collectivization.

From New York Times

The first Five-Year Plan seized this land for the state under a program called “collectivization.”

From Literature

There, she discovered that Mao’s earlier experiment with collectivization had been a disaster.

From New York Times

Forced collectivization of agriculture under Joseph Stalin, Lenin’s successor as the Soviet leader, drove a wave of famine in the early 1930s.

From New York Times

Resistance to collectivization and the policy’s inefficiencies aggravated famines; Ukraine’s 1932-33 “Holodomor” killed an estimated 4 million people, and many term it an outright genocide.

From Washington Times