The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 295)

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عنوان

The Dispossession of the Peasantry (ص 295)

المحتوى

279
workday and no clear dichotomy between “work” and “leisure.” For
any given “stock” of farm labour [sic]|—in a household or in the
sector—the actual “flow” of labour inputs into agricultural
production is determined by a “subjective equilibrium” in the
allocation of labour time. And the activities other than farming
embrace pursuits such as handweaving and other types of cottage
industry as well as leisure and a variety of “noneconomic”
activities—litigation, ceremonies*’ [and other communal functions].
Then there was Carmi and Rosenfeld’s statement that “the peasant’s
weakness” was to be sought in dry farming and having to pay debts, interest on
loans, and taxes, all of which precluded the possibility of capital accumulation.
Although it was true that a majority of peasants were primarily engaged in dry
farming, there were others who had access to more resources and larger than
average holding, as discussed earlier, who got involved in the cultivation of other
marketable crops in varying degrees. The spread of commoditization and
commercialism did not have a uniform impact on all peasants. In addition, Carmi
and Rosenfeld’s treatment of debt and taxes is ahistorical. While debt and taxes
existed during the Ottoman era, there was a profoundly qualitative difference in
their impact with the onset of British rule as land was increasingly commoditized
and taxes were required in cash. With the new conditions, the probability of loss of
land was much greater, something that befell many peasants throughout the
Mandate period.
It is obvious that the smallholder, burdened with debt and taxes, was unable
to “accumulate capital.” Those who did, in varying degrees, acquire surpluses
378. F. Johnston and P. Kilby, “‘Unimodal’ and ‘Bimodal’ Strategies of
Agrarian Change,” ed. Harriss, 60.
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The Dispossession of the Peasantry

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المنشئ

Riyad Mousa

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