Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 107)

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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 107)

المحتوى

than that in the Maritime Plain. Extensive production of cereals
continued to be the major occupation of the peasants throughout the
late 19th century and the early 20th century. Rent in kind remained as
the major form of surplus extraction. For the Lebanese merchant
family, for example, the Marj land was but another form of commercial
enterprise. As absentee landiords, the Sursuks were never directly
involved in the production process. Through a local manager who
oversaw production, they collected their share, usually in crop, at
the end of every production process. Despite the fact that they
accumulated large sums of capital from the exploitation of the
peasants in the Marj, the Sursuks did not reinvest this capital in
agriculture.
Instead, one author observed, they used the capital
: -.-in trade and usurious operations, in building
and buying urban buildings to rent as_ shops,
warenouses, store: and apartments: it was much less
frequently invested in industry, to set up spinning
mills and manufacturies. Since, during the export
and import era, investment as trade served the
highest returns. (Smilianskaya, 1966:236)
Thus in the absence of other prerequisite for the development of
agriculture in the Marj, the surplus labour extracted from the
peasants functioned primarily as usurious money lent back to them at
high interest rates. This form of exploitation increased the
dependence of the peasants on the landlords.
The prolongation of the life of share-cropping in the Marj can also
be attributed to the fact that peasants there could use the system to
supplement other income. The losses incurred by peasants who lost
their Amiri holdings to the Sursuks, were important but partial. As
snhare-croppers, they could still make use of other means of production
93
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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation

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المنشئ

Nahla Abdo-Zubi

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