Class, Culture, and Community Size in Spain: The Relevance of Models

Abstract

Anthropology in Spain has focused on isolated peasant villages-pro totypical little communities. Similar findings and conclusions have led to the construction of models of social dynamics which stress community cohesion and integration. Some of these models have been extended as generalizations to all Spanish communities despite the lack of corroborating data from larger social units. In this paper, we critically test three such generalized social models in a large community in the rural South in order to demonstrate their inadequacy for interpreting social dynamics in a larger social unit. We suggest that a failure to consider the variables of class consciousness and class conflict in Spain is responsible for the inadequacy of these generalizations.