Peasant Communities Research Articles

Rural Inferno

This article addresses the impact of wildfires on rural peasant communities during the pre-modern period. It demonstrates how and when wildfires started, what was done to limit their occurrence, what economic and environmental consequences followed, and what social safety-nets existed. By using the case of Lower Satakunta (Western Finland) during the seventeenth century, the article reveals that the occurrence of wildfires was strongly correlated with agricultural methods, climate variability, and weather conditions. The environmental consequences often led to substantial loss of forest and agricultural lands and the economic consequences were often such that, without aid from the local community, the future existence of peasant households was impossible. Nevertheless, through the renewed medieval laws on fire support (Sw. brandstod), peasant communities were able to create socio-economic safety nets that helped them withstand and recover from fire disasters.

Can indigenous peasants of Central Kalimantan live viably while conserving their forest lands?

Purpose This study aims to investigate the feasibility of a community-based non-timber forest products (NTFP) enterprise, or CBNE, within the indigenous peasant communities in Manuhing Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This includes assessing the potential for generating featured agricultural products from the region. Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive qualitative study that integrates ethnographic methods into the SLA analysis, to investigate the feasibility of a CBNE approach within an indigenous peasant community. A number of 13 peasant groups, which comprise 251 members, from the seven villages in Manuhing Raya participated in the study. Findings The CBNE approach, when combined with One Village One Product method, is considered appropriate for the determination of featured agricultural products in a local community. In addition, the SLA analysis in this study contributes to identifying vulnerable aspects of CBNE development in the local communities, including weaknesses in social cohesion, leadership and entrepreneurial orientation. Research limitations/implications Efforts to preserve the rainforest lands in Central Kalimantan cannot be excluded from the involvement of the local peasant communities. The best livelihood strategy in this case is to adopt a CBNE approach. This shall be made possible by empowering the peasant communities to revive their local wisdom of Upun Pambelum, which means forest lands are their primary resources for life. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of using ethnographic investigation prior to the implementation of a CBNE development. Originality/value The implementation of the CBNE approach should take into account socioeconomic aspects of the local community, especially the presence of social cohesion, leadership roles and entrepreneurial orientations. In addition, the study demonstrates the potential of integrating traditional ecological knowledge with modern business models in CBNEs.

Climate Information as A Support for Optimizing Agricultural Public Policies: A Comparative Analysis Among Peasant Communities in The Middle Couffo (Benin) And Kpékplémé In the Middle Mono in The South-East of Togo

Responses to climate change often take the form of strengthening the resilience and adaptive capacities of communities vulnerable to hazards. To this end, climate information is very crucial and must constitute an essential element of local public agricultural policies. In this perspective, how do local communities participate in the popularization of climate information in order to establish sustainable strategies for climate resilience? This involves analyzing the role of local communities in agricultural extension through the dissemination of climate information. The methodological approach taken is based on the observation of the agrarian landscape and the modification of the finage, the techniques of resilience of the peasant communities and semi-structured interviews carried out with 221 targeted actors in three agricultural communes of Moyen-Couffo in Benin. and in Kpékplémé and Aklakou in southern Togo. The analytical approach oriented from the perspective of local agricultural public policies has made it possible to bring climate information closer to a competence of local communities. This article, based on a corpus of resilience itineraries, sheds light on the role of local authorities in anticipating and adapting to climate change. It appears from the cases studied that the promotion of sustainable adaptation strategies depends on a local public agricultural policy supported by planning and agricultural innovations based on climate information and their popularization by decentralized territorial entities.

Factores que influyen en la inseminación artificial con semen fresco en alpacas (<i>Vicugna pacos</i>)

The aim of the study was to evaluate factors that affect the fertility of artificial insemination (AI) with fresh diluted semen in alpacas. In Exp. 1, females with preovulatory follicles with diameters ≥7-≤ 9 or ≥10-≤12 mm were inseminated; in Exp. 2 the females were inseminated at 24, 26, 28 and 30 h after ovulation induction; In Exp. 3, alpacas were inseminated with semen at four concentrations: 15, 25, 35 and 45x106 sperm/ml; and in Exp. 4, using the best results from the previous experiments, 350 alpacas were inseminated in two peasant communities. Semen was collected by the post-copulatory method, using ejaculates with motility ≥60%, diluted in Tris-glucose-citric acid and egg yolk. Alpacas with preovulatory follicles ≥7 mm were selected for AI. Ovulation induction was done with a GnRH analogue and pregnancy diagnosis was made 30 days after service. Pregnancy rate was not affected by follicular size. AI 24 to 26 h after ovulation induction obtained a higher pregnancy rate (50 and 55%, respectively; p<0.05) compared to those inseminated at 28 and 30 h (35 and 30%). AI with 15x106 sperm/ml resulted in low pregnancy rates (30%) compared to 35 and 45x106 sperm/ml (50 and 55%, respectively). In the peasant communities, 55% pregnancy rate was obtained. The results suggest that the success of AI with fresh semen in alpacas is highly dependent on sperm dose and timing of insemination.

CARTOGRAFIA SOCIAL DA INJUSTIÇA AMBIENTAL NA CHAPADA DO APODI, CEARÁ

Chapada do Apodi, in the state of Ceará, is an expansion area for cotton agribusiness, producing environmental injustice against peasant communities. The study reveals the potential of social maps created through participatory mapping to expose environmental injustice caused by agribusiness. The research aims to demonstrate the environmental injustice triggered by the territorialization of agribusiness in the region through social cartography. A qualitative approach, participatory research, and social cartography are the core procedures for the investigation. The results show that it was possible to demonstrate increased deforestation, areas with a "smell of poison," the incorporation of former goat breeding areas, the deactivation of apiaries and bee deaths, the destruction of social technologies, and the possible contamination of storage tanks for household water. Furthermore, it is evident that environmental injustice can be revealed through participatory mapping processes based on social cartography. Keywords: Social cartography; Environmental injustice; Agribusiness; Chapada do Apodi.

Eco-Political Conflict and Communal Environmentalism in the Struggle of Atenco Against the Construction of a New International Airport in Mexico City

This essay explores, from an eco-political perspective, the popular mobilization led by peasants in the municipality of Atenco against Mexico City’s new international airport. It provides a case study of the dramatic worldwide changes brought about by the construction of mega-infrastructure, the intimate link between peasant communities’ social and cultural values, the lake and agricultural land put at risk by the airport construction project, and the subsequent struggle in defense of the lake and land affected by this project. Finally, it narrates the experience of the #YoPrefieroElLago (Hashtag I prefer the lake) campaign, which, amidst the presidential transition in Mexico, resulted in the airport’s cancellation, a victory for the People’s Front in Defense of Land.

Processos de vulnerabilização de empreendimentos eólicos em comunidade camponesa no Agreste Meridional de Pernambuco

ABSTRACT Amid sustainable agendas, renewable energy sources play a strong role, especially wind energy. However, the implementation of wind farms produces transformations in communities, causing impacts in different areas and vulnerability processes. The study aims to problematize the reports of the peasant population regarding the processes of vulnerability in the area of influence of the implementation of wind farms in a municipality in Pernambuco. This is an observational, descriptive research with a qualitative approach, carried out in a peasant community, located in the municipality of Caetés, Pernambuco, Brazil. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was based on the content analysis technique in the thematic modality. It was observed that the arrival and operation of the wind turbines coincided with the emergence of signs and symptoms, such as hearing and skin problems, anxiety, dizziness and headache. This situation allows us to consider a probable connection between the impacts caused by wind towers, already described in the literature, and those present in the participants’ reports. Prudence is necessary when planning and building wind farms, since such health problems can be temporary or permanent, leading the local community to constant suffering.

Processes of vulnerabilization of wind enterprises in a peasant community in the Southern Agrest of Pernambuco

RESUMO Em meio a pautas sustentáveis, as fontes de energia renováveis apresentam um forte papel, em especial, a energia eólica. No entanto, a implantação dos empreendimentos eólicos produz transformações nas comunidades, causando impactos em diferentes áreas e processos de vulnerabilização. O estudo objetiva problematizar os relatos da população camponesa referentes aos processos de vulnerabilização em área de influência da implantação dos empreendimentos eólicos em um município pernambucano. Trata-se de uma pesquisa observacional, descritiva de abordagem qualitativa, realizada em uma comunidade camponesa localizada no município de Caetés, Pernambuco, Brasil. A coleta de dados foi realizada mediante entrevista semiestruturada. A análise de dados partiu da técnica de análise de conteúdo na modalidade temática. Observou-se que a chegada e o funcionamento dos aerogeradores coincidiram com o surgimento de sinais e sintomas, como os problemas auditivos e de pele, ansiedade, tontura e cefaleia. Tal situação permite considerar uma provável ligação entre os impactos causados pelas torres eólicas, já descritos na literatura, com aqueles presentes nos relatos dos participantes. É necessário prudência no momento de planejamento e construção de complexos eólicos, uma vez que tais agravos à saúde podem se comportar como temporários ou permanentes, levando a comunidade local a um sofrimento constante.

“…WE WERE DETERMINED BY THE UYEZD TO BE IN THE TOWN OF GOROKHOVETS, WHERE WE DID NOT WANT TO BE AT ALL”: THE DISTRICT CENTER IN THE LIFE OF THE PEASANT COMMUNITY (THE CASE OF THE VILLAGE OF PALEKH AT THE TURN OF THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES)

The study examines the strategies of interaction of the peasant community and manorial administration with the uyezd authorities at the microhistorical level. It is based on the materials of the archive of the Buturlins’ Palekh manor, i.e. expenditure books and primary documentation on travel expenses, duty receipts of the uyezd authorities and community sentences. Upon studying the legislative base and practice, the author concludes that peasants almost did not deviate from legislative norms. They tried to optimize their expenses, for example, they did not resort to the uyezd court or they visited the town for several cases at the same time. The article reconstructs the schedule and approximate travel time consumption, examines which officials and peasants were involved in interaction with the uyezd authorities depending on the situation. The author establishes that a considerable part of the time of the manorial administration was spent on traveling to the uyezd town. She estimates the transport costs of Palekh residents to the neighboring towns — Gorokhovets, Vyazniki, Vladimir and Shuya. The main criterion of convenience of a uyezd town for peasants was reliability of the way to it and its proximity to their village. Th e case of the administrative reform in 1796–1797 in Vladimir guberniya allows us to consider how Palekh residents tried to prevent their manor from being assigned to a less attractive uyezd town. It is proved that peasants’ attempts could not succeed, because the reform was carried out at the guberniya level (while peasants appealed to the uyezd authorities), and the decisions were made before peasants tried to intervene. The author concludes that the legislation in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries worked in favor of peasants and it was aimed at reducing transportation costs for them, but their opinion was not taken into account in the formation of specific administrative boundaries.

Social, environmental and territorial consequences of the agribusiness model in the Chaco region in Argentina

ABSTRACT Since the mid-19th century, the unequal distribution of and access to land and common goods such as water have exacerbated the socio-economic differences to land and common goods such as water have exacerbated socio-economic differences between the inhabitants and agro-industrial entrepreneurs in the province of Chaco, Argentina. In this scenario, relations based on socio-environmental injustice have meant that the main people affected are the members of the indigenous and peasant communities who have historically lived in these territories and whose ways of knowing and living in these spaces have been violated on a daily basis. From an anthropological perspective, this article aims to describe and analyse the scenario in which these differences emerge, configuring spaces of power and contestation in which heterogeneous interests converge. where heterogeneous (and often contradictory) interests converge. This article, based on more than a decade of fieldwork, recovers ethnographic interviews, as well as a review of specialised literature and analysis of sources, from which the aforementioned scenario will be described.

Destabilization of the Peasant Community during the years of Stolypin's agrarian reforms: a microhistorical overview

The objective of the article is to analyze the information found in the Ukrainian newspaper "Rada" regarding the resettlement and forced eviction of peasants from settlements in Uman County during the implementation of P. A. Stolypin's reform. This information sheds light on demographic changes and the moral values of peasant communities (rural communities). The research methodology combines general scientific, specialized historical, and interdisciplinary methods and tools of scientific analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the use of microhistorical approaches to expand anthropocentrism in the discussed topic, which may be considered well-studied when it comes to resettlement policy in the years 1906-1912. As for the issue of forced eviction by the decision of the rural community, the material presented in the article could serve as the starting point for a comprehensive study of this segment of peasant self-government activity. An element of novelty is the introduction of information into scientific circulation that complements local history and ethnographic studies. Conclusions. Between 1907 and 1912, the Ukrainian newspaper "Rada" published more than thirty notes about migration and forced evictions from rural communities in just one Uman County of the Kyiv Governorate. Systematizing such information personalizes the migration of Ukrainian peasantry during the Stolypin agrarian reforms, detailing general perceptions of resettlement policy, and revealing the risks and difficulties faced by the most active peasantry, which sought a better life but often fell victim to various fraudsters and the imperial authorities due to their naivety, trustfulness, and illiteracy. Systematization of information about forced evictions from rural communities by the decision of the rural community provided the opportunity to identify the reasons and mechanisms for such punishment. The reasons for eviction and the number sentenced to expulsion indicate the presence of crisis phenomena in the peasant society. The government's desire to resettle the most active peasants to remote regions of the empire and the spread of the practice of cleansing rural communities of politically undesirable and socially problematic elements did not yield the expected results: the subjugation and pacification of the peasantry.

SOCIAL CAPITAL OF THE PEASANTS IN BANGLADESH: CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

The aim of the study was to analyze changes in social capital among Bangladeshi peasants over the past decade, with a specific focus on their social relations and reciprocal arrangements. A mixed-methods approach was employed to gather comprehensive data for this study. The findings reveal that bridging social relationships between peasants and local elites has not shown any promising trend. Economic inequality and discrimination in accessing education, healthcare, and job opportunities are significant factors that contribute to the increasing distance between different groups. The reciprocal relationships among peasants have become more distant, particularly with the local elites. Economic inequality, politically biased hierarchical structures, and discrimination in accessing education, healthcare, and job opportunities all contribute to the increasing distance between different groups. Overall, peasant communities in Bangladesh have experienced a decline in social capital, which is crucial for sustaining agrarian relations and agricultural production systems.

<흥부전>의 ‘밥 먹는 대목’에 대한 비교예술학적 접근

In order to deepen our literary understanding of the rice eating scene in <Heungbujeon>, this paper compares <Heungbujeon> with paintings depicting a meal scene. The paintings of The Last Supper, which recreates the event of the Last Supper as recorded in the Christian Bible, and <Peasant Wedding>, painted by the 16th century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel, were examined. Eating is both a material cycle of nature that mediates life and an act of human civilization. I considered this duality as an important clue to understanding the uniqueness of the work, which deals with the overcoming of materiality and the isolation of the figure. ‘Overcoming Materiality’ is a discussion of how the figures overcome the materiality of the act of eating to achieve a level of civilization, and what that means. In the paintings of The Last Supper, the figures are reverent in the presence of food and isolate the betrayer Judas. The paintings of the Last Supper thus suggest that humans, as spiritual beings, should be oriented toward a community of faith. In <Peasant Wedding>, people eat, drink, and rejoice. In this way, human beings are not limited to spiritual beings, but physicality and social solidarity are affirmed. In <Heungbujeon>, Heungbu's family members cut gourds and eat gluttony. As such, they are seen as regressive beings. However, unlike Imugi and Nolbu, Heungbu's hunger is inherent in a moral tension, as Heungbu's family is committed to ethical eating. Thus, gluttony is understood as an act of satisfying the moral hunger inherent in hunger and rejoicing in the rewards of morality. If eating is an act of expressing and pursuing civilized meaning, that meaning will be realized differently for different people. This is because civilizational meaning belongs to the realm of the mind, and people are in different situations. In Leonardo da Vinci's <Last Supper>, Jesus is isolated. Jesus' calmness expresses that he is the savior and divine providence is transcendence. In Pieter Bruegel's <Peasant Wedding>, the bride is isolated. However, the distinction between the bride and her guests is only temporary, and the bride's smile expresses that the reception in the peasant community is an embodiment of humanity that should be respected. In <Heungbujeon>, Heungbu is isolated. He does not find sympathy from the rest of the family for his family's integrity, his belief in humanity, or his ethical obligation to wait for the wicked to be reformed. However, the good fortune of his brother shows that his isolation is not in vain. His isolation expresses his simple trust in humanity and the difficulty of that trust.

‘Sometimes they achieve a good life, sometimes they come back in a coffin’ – exploring social worlds of mobility at the communities of origin in Chiapas, Mexico

ABSTRACT Based on ethnographical and collaborative research conducted in the South Mexican region of The Lacandon Jungle, my paper explores how Indigenous peasant communities deal with the effects that various forms of mobility have on their social worlds. Combining decolonial work on Indigenous communality and transnational perspectives with a situational analysis approach, my research specifically focuses on collective processes of meaning-making in light of the increasing mobility among these communities’ members. By analyzing how the people who stay collectively organize the community’s social world, I position myself against approaches that reduce Indigenous movements to cultural policies, since such approaches overlook the relevance of anti-colonial resistance. My research shows that within the ‘Indigenous communal governance systems’, the departure of individual members plays a formative role for the entire community, shaping the resulting social relations and political practices. To ensure collective access to territory as a means of communal self-determination, a ‘transnational continuum of communality’ emerges between the communities of origin and their absent members.

Tenure Security Perception Patterns among Amazonian Communities in Peru: Gender and Ethnicity

This study delves into perceptions of land and forest tenure (in)security among Indigenous and mestizo populations in the Peruvian Amazon. Despite all having collective lands, the selected communities vary in their formalisation processes. This research seeks to enhance comprehension of tenure security perceptions in the Peruvian Amazon by investigating sources of security and insecurity across key tenure components. A combination of descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses is employed, based on fieldwork conducted between July 2015 and December 2017 in 22 Native and Peasant Communities in Loreto and Madre de Dios, utilising 1006 intra-household surveys, 52 in-depth interviews, and 44 focus group discussions. The results reveal similarities and differences in (in)security sources between titled and untitled communities. The study also explores the influence of gender and ethnicity on these perceptions, finding ethnicity-based variation in security perception over the past 20 years (1995–2015). Recognising these differences in perception is critical for assessing the robustness of exercising acquired collective rights.

Las Relaciones de conflicto en las comunidades indígenas dela provincia minera de Yauli. Siglos XVIII-XIX

Conflicts involving peasant communities in mining areas are currently recurring in Peru. These have ancient antecedents, as is the case of the province of Yauli, where mining activity has been practiced since the 18th century. The objective of this work is to characterize the conflict relationships, starting with the arrival of mining activity in the area. This paper was carried out through case studies and the review of, mainly, documentation for land disputes, existing in the archives of the peasant communities of the province of Yauli. It is concluded that, in this mining province, during the 18th and 19th centuries, conflict relationships were configured that can be characterized —according to the actors involved and the identities resulting from the social phenomenon— as intra-communal, inter-communal and extra-communal. Likewise, socio-economic and ethnic differentiations, which are not mutually exclusive, have been identified since the 18th century within indigenous communities.

Peasant communities in Peru

The objective was to analyze the processes of organization, action, leadership and perspectives of peasant communities in Peru, specifically in Junín, period 1959-2017, under a qualitative methodological approach, narrative-historical design. It is evident that in the 50s-60s of the 20th century, peasant organizations focused on the land problem with the estates, on the implementation of the pilot plan for agrarian reform and the founding of a communal university. Between 1969-1980, they were part of the structure of the Agricultural Societies of Social Interest, implemented by the agrarian reform of 1969. From 1980 and the end of the 90s, overwhelmed by political violence, the Peasant Rounds were formed, especially to confront the authoritarianism and Shining Path terrorism. In the 21st century, many communities continue the fight for territory with extractive companies (mining, hydrocarbons, non-metallic) and with the State for infrastructure and better public services.

Llamas, Barter and Travel Rituals: An Ethnographic Study on the Esquela Tusuy Dance of the Uchumiri Peasant Community, Condesuyos, Peru

The “Esquela Tusuy” dance is a cultural manifestation deeply rooted in the Uchumiri Peasant Community (Condesuyos, Peru), reflecting the intersection between traditional cultural practices and community identity. This ethnographic study reveals how the dance, beyond being a mere artistic expression, is a complex system of meanings that articulates social relations, economic practices of barter, and Andean spirituality, through the veneration of Pachamama and Apu Coropuna. The dance is organized around rituals that include the preparation, journey, and return of the llama herders, being a living expression of collective memory and a mechanism of social cohesion. The adopted methodology was based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews, allowing a detailed understanding of Uchumiri’s cultural dynamics. Despite contemporary challenges, “Esquela Tusuy” remains a central pillar for the affirmation of cultural identity and community resistance, underlining the importance of dance in the conservation of cultural heritage and in the articulation of local identities against national narratives.

Beyond Schools: Multisensory Learning and Knowledge Acquisition in Informal Contexts—Perspectives from Rural Indonesia

It is not a new finding that much human learning takes place implicitly outside of educational institutions in informal, everyday contexts, yet these learning processes receive comparatively little systematic attention within the current anthropology of learning, education and schools. Based on long-term social anthropological research in a peasant community in rural Indonesia (Sulawesi), the article will address the complex multisensory forms of learning through which children acquire a large part of their competencies and their extensive environmental and agricultural knowledge. I will focus on the mixed-age “communities of practices” in which this knowledge is transmitted and acquired and show that affective bonds to peers and adults influence to a large extent which out-of-school areas of competence a child acquires. Building on the “embodied capital theory.” I argue that children in rural areas obtain a complex form of “ecological literacy” that encompasses not only a rich knowledge about the local ecosystems and agri- as well as horticultural processes but also a particular formation of the senses and the physical body in general (muscle size and memory, physical strength, coordination, balance, and motor skills). I shall conclude with some critical reflections on the general devaluation of the extra-curricular, non-formal, and environmental forms of learning, which can be observed not only in Indonesia but also worldwide and seems to be closely related to the global spread of Western psychological theory models about the healthy socio-emotional and cognitive development of children, supported by global institutions like UNICEF, World Bank, and Save the Children. For years, a constant increase of early childhood development programs can be observed, which aim at improving children’s school readiness, particularly in low-income countries, in order to enhance the future prospect of children. These programs, however, go hand in hand with the devaluation and oppression of indigenous knowledge systems and thus often worsen the future prospects of younger people.

Поселення колишніх військовослужбовців у сільських громадах Правобережної України після реформи 1861 року.

In the second half of the XIX century. the Russian army, which by that time had already become a social institution, formed a separate social status of the military throughout the empire, in particular on the territory of Ukraine. Its representatives were endowed with certain rights and privileges compared to other categories of citizens of the country. After the reform of 1861, significant social transformations took place in the Russian Empire. Previously settled peasants acquired civil rights and now independently solved problems related to the life of their own communities, in which they all had equal rights. That’s why settlement in their communities of representatives of the military state, who enjoyed the privileges granted to them, needed state regulation, which became the subject of this study. The purpose of the article is to highlight, on the basis of available scientific works, as well as archival materials, the conditions under which servicemen of the lower ranks of the imperial army, who were demobilized or received a long indefinite leave, had the right to settle and live in rural communities that had come out of serfdom. The methodological basis of the research was the principles of historicism, objectivity and scientificity. The implementation of these principles is complemented by concrete search, cognitive, historical and analytical methods. Scientific novelty is determined, first of all, by the formulation of a problem that has not yet been comprehensively investigated. Conclusions. The representatives of the military state, which was finally formed in the Russian Empire during the first half of the 19th century and had a significant influence on the Ukrainian lands, were mainly of peasant origin. Therefore, at the end of a long term of service, or during indefinite leave, they tried to return to the way of life they were familiar with before the start of military service. However, such categories of servicemen still differed in their legal status from the peasantry, which after the reform of 1861 acquired civil rights. Most peasant communities on the Right Bank of Ukraine were still in the status of temporarily obliged and still performed certain duties in favour of the landlord. Retired servicemen and soldiers on indefinite leave had the right not to perform these and a number of other duties. This circumstance distinguished servicemen who settled in peasant communities from the general mass of their inhabitants.