This lesson explores how industrialization and rural–urban migration contributed to the formation of a peasant class, and how anthropologists have described peasant communities. It also examines peasants’ relationships with markets and the idea of a post-peasant class.
Before capitalism and the industrial state developed, agriculturalists made up the largest class in state societies. The growth of industrial economies created new urban employment and markets, encouraging internal migration—the movement of people within a country, often from rural areas to cities.
All flashcards
What is a peasant class?
Rural, subsistence-oriented agriculturalists with limited landholdings who are connected to urban and wider economic systems.
What did Robert Redfield mean by a “little tradition”?
A local culture shaped by a changing mixture of customs, often passed on through oral traditions.
Which three features of peasant culture did Redfield emphasize?
Attachment to land, dependence on urban areas, and the importance of traditional social practices.
What are Eric Wolf’s “closed corporate communities”?
Peasant communities relatively detached from urban centers and less exposed to cultural change through migration.
What does “post-peasant class” describe?
Rural cultivators who migrate to cities while retaining cultural attributes associated with ancestral traditions.
Quiz questions
How did Eric Wolf distinguish peasants from farmers?Answer: Peasants tended to produce less surplus and engage in more unequal market transactions.
Why did Indigenous peasants in Chiapas worry about NAFTA taking effect?Answer: They feared cheaper goods from large corporations would compete with their small agricultural surpluses.
Which set of factors attracted Nyishi migrants from Kurung Kumey to Papum Pare in Ramya’s study?Answer: Urban jobs, relatives already there, and better access to education and health services.
What is jhum cultivation?Answer: Slash-and-burn cultivation that may involve periodic relocation as land resources are depleted.
What generational change was associated with rural–urban migration in Ramya’s study?Answer: Older relatives might remain in the hills while younger family members moved to cities.
Based on Introduction to Anthropology by Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.