The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 81)

غرض

عنوان
The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 81)
المحتوى
65
systems of cultivation.” '*°
Related to this is the systems approach used by sociologists and social
anthropologists who conceive of rural societies as “systems of interdependent
socioeconomic elements geared to the dictates of the farming calendar and with
built-in mechanisms to ensure [their] survival in the face of recurrent natural
hazards.”'?’ Harriss comments:
The difficulty with such approaches to the study of agrarian societies
is that because they emphasize the systematic quality of the local
community, regulated by values, they can only really explain change
as something which comes about as the result of “external” forces
acting upon the local society. It is an approach which both ignores
the relationship of mutual determination between locality and
state—and neglects the processes of change which may be “internal”
to peasant society. '”
In general terms, Kamen’s study falls within the systems approach, although he
also stresses the lack of resources available to the peasantry needed for more
intensive cultivation.
Finally, there is the structural/historical approach. Like the systems
approach, it considers environmental, technological, and demographic factors but
goes beyond that. The production process and the property relationships between
classes are at the center of analysis and are seen as critical in understanding
conflict and change within societies. In its Marxist variant (not all studies that use
this approach are necessarily Marxist), an understanding of property relationships
26Tbid.
27S. D. Biggs and C. Burns as quoted in Harriss, 19.
28H arriss, 20-1.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
تاريخ
٢٠٠٦
المنشئ
Riyad Mousa

Contribute

A template with fields is required to edit this resource. Ask the administrator for more information.

Not viewed