Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 105)

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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 105)

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to the capitalist mode o£ production (Marx,i978:596)
The fact that foth the Rothschilds and the Sursuks operated
successful enterprises based on share-cropping was itself an
indication ti:at a large number of peasants were becoming less’ self
sufficient and more dependent on other landowners. It in fact meant
that the peasants were undergoing a process of de peasantisation. In
a share-cropping system, the more production is market oriented and
consequently the higher the forces of production employed, the more
advanced production relations will be. Speaking of this system as a
progressive force toward capitalist change, Marx observes:
Only where and when the other prerequisites of
capitalist production are present does usury become
one of the means assisting in the establishment of
the new mode of production by ruining the feudal
lord and small scale producer, on the one hand, and
centralizing the conditions of labour into capital,
on the other. (Marx, C.III, pp.596-97)
The dynamics of the share-cropping system in the Maritime Plain
provides proo£t of the leading role of this system in the
transformation process. Agricultural production in the Maritime Plain
depended heavily on machinery and intensive capital investment. Until
| the late 1880s, grapes were the major crop produced in the
Rothschilds' settlements. Up-to-date wineries were established in the
settlements of Zikhron Yaa'kov and Risnon Li Zion and high quality
wine was exported throughout Europe (Giladi,D.,1975:185). However, as
a result of overproduction and the competition posed by French wine,
production in Palestine declined, giving place to citrus culture.
The Rothschilds imported various kinds of citrus seeds from Europe,
such as grapefruits and mandarins, and improved lemon production. New
techniques of packing and shipping were also introduced, resulting in
increasing quality of the produce. By 1890, citrus became Palestine's
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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation

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المنشئ

Nahla Abdo-Zubi

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