Peasant Pasts Research Articles

Illiberal Jewish-Christian Encounters: Political Temporalities in Amish Country Tourism

Abstract Increasing numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews are flocking to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to participate in Amish country tourism and to consume kosher dairy products, sometimes produced through economic collaborations between Orthodox Jews and local Amish/Mennonite farmers. Through an ethnographic examination of these phenomena, we demonstrate how Amish tourism fosters illiberal interreligious encounters among the triangle of ultra-Orthodox Jewish tourists, Amish/Mennonite farmers, and Christian tour guide mediators. Whereas historically tourism to the Amish was driven by white nostalgic longings for a European peasant past and the American frontier, Orthodox Jews project a nostalgic vision of the Eastern European shtetl onto the Amish and their dairy products. We borrow the concept of political temporalities (Little 2022) to explore an illiberal political temporality formed by the encounter among illiberal religious groups in a recreational tourist setting. Despite different nostalgic projections, these religious groups converged over their visions of an American religious present and future.

The Shadow of Peasant Past: Seven Generations of Inequality Persistence in Northern Sweden

The authors use administrative data linked to parish records from northern Sweden to study how persistent inequality is across multiple generations in education, occupation, and wealth, going from historical to contemporary time. The data cover seven generations and allow the authors to follow ancestors of individuals living in Sweden around the new millennium back more than 200 years, covering the mid-18th century to the 21st century. In a sample of around 75,000 traceable descendants, they analyze (a) up to fifth cousin correlations and (b) dynastic correlations over seven generations based on aggregations of ancestors’ social class/status. With both approaches, the authors find that past generations structure life chances many generations later, even though the results align with traditional stratification research in that mobility across multiple generations is high. The results imply that today’s inequality regime may have been formed many generations back.

From Peasant Pasts to Hindutva Futures? Some Reflections on History, Politics, and Methodology

This paper considers the participation and initiation of communities once classified as criminal tribes in the violence in Gujarat in 2002. Given that their descendants continue to suffer politically and economically in post-colonial India, it is necessary to examine the role of the marginalised and subordinate communities in the making of Hindutva in the twenty-first century. Building upon debates on violence in post-colonial societies, the paper examines the historical contexts for why victims often become killers in genocide. More specifically, it provides an analysis of one specific community of poor, low-caste peasants, the Dharalas, who participated in the violence against Muslims in Gujarat. The paper also examines the limits of historical methodology for the writing of histories of violence from ‘below’.

Memories of Home and Stories of Displacement: The Women of Artas and the ““Peasant Past””

This article deals with the memory narratives of women from the West Bank village of Artas who were displaced as a result of the 1967 war and are today living in working-class neighborhoods of eastern Amman. Imbued with nostalgia, their narratives extol the values that had governed life in the village before their dispersal, values that have proved to be important for survival in exile. The ““peasant past”” remembered by these women is examined in the dual context of the history of Artas and the migratory itineraries of the women, many of whom were displaced for a second time during the Gulf War of 1990––91.

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India (review)

Reviewed by: Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India Douglas E. Haynes Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. By Vinayak Chaturvedi (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2007) Peasant movements once stood at the center of the historiography of colonial South Asia (and of many other parts of Asia and Africa) during the 1970s and 1980s. During the last twenty years, however, this area of study has receded in importance with the decline in research both on political economy and on nationalist politics and with the rise of historical approaches influenced by cultural studies. Scholars and graduate students have virtually abandoned working on the subject. In this stimulating new book on history and memory among the Dharalas in Kheda District in Gujarat, however, Vinayak Chaturvedi, has brought a completely fresh approach to peasant studies, one that reaches rich and original conclusions. Kheda district was the focus of an earlier major book by David Hardiman, Peasant Nationalists of Gujarat (1981). Hardiman’s major contribution in that study was to bring out the role of the Patidars, the dominant peasant community in the region, in the largely non-violent struggles associated with the Indian nationalist movement. Chaturvedi’s work turns his attention instead to the Dharalas, a set of actors (now referring to themselves as Kshatriyas) who either cultivated the most marginal agricultural lands in the district or who worked as laborers for the Patidars, and who were labelled as a “criminal tribe” by the colonial administration. Hardiman treated the Dharalas only briefly because of the relative paucity of the information about them. Chaturvedi, by contrast, tries to draw a picture of Dharala politics from the fragmentary archival evidence and from oral interviews he conducted in 1996 and 2004. The result is a book that is innovative both in interpretation and in method. As in previous studies of peasant movements, Chaturvedi certainly examines issues of state policy and political economy. He discusses, for instance, a range of colonial processes that bolstered Patidar dominance and that disadvantaged the Dharalas. But his most central concern is with appreciating Dharala political conceptions. Drawing upon the work of Carlo Ginzburg, Steven Feierman, Ranajit Guha and Shahid Amin, Chaturvedi seeks in effect to construct an intellectual history of peasants, but one that departs from the assumptions of Guha’s earlier work that there was anything “elementary” or “immature” in peasant understandings of the political world. Chaturvedi takes the ideas of individuals seriously, studies their origins, examines their circulation and development in a primarily nonliterate culture, and explores their evolution after the death of their original propagators. Based upon this evidence, he outlines the Dharalas’ conceptions of politics, which were anti-colonial, stood outside of Indian nationalism, were steeped in local notions of religiosity and kingship, and critiqued the position of the Patidars in agrarian society. Chaturvedi primarily reaches these findings out of information about three developments during the colonial period: 1) a short-lived uprising led by a peasant called Ranchod Vira, who proclaimed himself a king in 1898 and urged peasants in twenty-one villages to withhold the revenues they owed the government; 2) a movement for socio-religious reform in 1907-9 led by a figure named Daduram, who urged Dharalas to give up alcohol, meat-eating and stealing and to stop working (mainly for Patidars) in demeaning jobs; and 3) a miscellaneous set of activities, especially raids against Patidars and government employees, during the 1910s and 20s. In keeping with his focus on the fragment, Chaturvedi ‘s style of presentation departs sharply from most historical works. The book is not organized conventionally but instead consists of sixty four short segments, some no longer than a page or two. By escaping the tyranny of chapters, this framework allows Chaturvedi to analyze numerous pieces of evidence as far as they lead but without needing to fill the undocumented gaps that lie between them. A reference in the sources to “topiwallahs” (hat –wearers), a term indicating representatives of the state (who thus stood outside the local community), gives Chaturvedi the opportunity to examine Dharala conceptions of the boundaries of political relations. A discussion of why Ranchod, an illiterate figure, kept books...

:Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India

This book is an innovative and imaginative account of popular politics, one that probes the predicaments and possibilities of the historical record concerning subaltern worlds. It is also an intriguing endeavor that falls short of articulating its own import. The story is set in the Kheda district of Gujarat province in western India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its protagonists are members of the mainly poor Dharala community, who were economically and socially subordinate to the agricultural caste of Patidars in the region. Both scholarly writing and political commentary have portrayed the Patidars as formidable, even exemplary, authors of peasant nationalism and allies of Mohandas K. Gandhi, while the Dharalas haunt both the academic and political realms as marginal figures, mentioned mainly for their “criminal” proclivities. The contrast offers a poignant edge to Vinayak Chaturvedi's empathetic, accessible narrative. In addition to the introduction, the account has three parts, each made up of crisscrossing pathways. The first draws on judicial proceedings—especially peasant testimonies in colonial courts—and other official records in order to unravel the tale of Ranchod Vira, a poor peasant and bhagat (religious figure) who challenged local superiors and colonial governance in 1897. The Ranchod movement and its politics are presented as part of popular religious beliefs and practices, entanglements between oral and written arenas, and shifts within the agrarian structure and imperial administration. Chaturvedi next turns to Dharala endeavors across the early twentieth century, from the initiative of a religious figure called Daduram to efforts involving caste conferences, labor strikes, and rural brigandage. These activities are understood in the context of imperial imperatives, such as the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, that targeted the Dharalas as well as nationalist expressions among the Patidar peasantry under Gandhian leadership. The final part traverses Chaturvedi's encounters in the archive and the field. It unravels his dogged pursuit—made up of chance finds and contingent discoveries—of the details and dramas that characterize the ongoing debates, contentious legacies, and the living presence of Ranchod's and Daduram's endeavors. At each step, Chaturvedi adroitly teases out from tattered archival registers and episodic field materials self-consciously fragmentary yet immensely telling tales of peasant worlds, past and present, a plenitude that my bare summary has been unable to capture.

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. Vinayak Chaturvedi

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsPeasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. Vinayak Chaturvedi Janaki BakhleJanaki Bakhle Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Anthropological Research Volume 64, Number 4Winter, 2008 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/jar.64.4.20371307 Views: 9Total views on this site Copyright 2008 The University of New MexicoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. By Vinayak Chaturvedi. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007. xvii, 1 pp. $55.00 (cloth); $21.95 (paper).

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India. By Vinayak Chaturvedi. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007. xvii, 1 pp. $55.00 (cloth); $21.95 (paper).

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India by Vinayak Chaturvedi

Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India by Vinayak Chaturvedi

Peasant pasts: history and memory in western India – By Vinayak Chaturvedi

Peasant pasts: history and memory in western India – By Vinayak Chaturvedi

Book Review: Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India

Book Review: Peasant Pasts: History and Memory in Western India

The Material Roots of Rastafarian Marijuana Symbolism

This article explores the relationship between shifting modes of production and the evolution of marijuana symbolism among the early Rastafarians of Jamaica. During slavery, marijuana grew on the island but was probably not recognized. During the shift to indentured labour, black Jamaicans utilized marijuana as a palliative. During the transition to capitalism, marginalized urban Jamaicans sold marijuana and it became a powerful symbol of their peasant past. Finally, once the island had shifted to a predominantly capitalist mode of production and appropriated laws that reinforced capitalist ideology, marijuana became a “holy herb”. This work provides a framework to study the development of religious symbolism and presents an exercise in applying anthropological theory to history. Such an exploration is useful for anthropologists studying ideological systems and ethnobotanists seeking to analyse the dynamic relationships between plants and people based upon changes in material circumstances or shifts in mode of production.

Commodity Production and Ethnic Culture: Otavalo, Northern Ecuador

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommodity Production and Ethnic Culture: Otavalo, Northern EcuadorTanya Korovkin Tanya KorovkinUniversity of Waterloo Search for more articles by this author University of WaterlooPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 47, Number 1October 1998 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/452389 Views: 118Total views on this site Citations: 23Citations are reported from Crossref © 1998 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Ana Deaconu, Geneviève Mercille, Malek Batal The Agroecological Farmer’s Pathways from Agriculture to Nutrition: A Practice-Based Case from Ecuador’s Highlands, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 58, no.22 (Jan 2019): 142–165.https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.2019.1570179SERGIO MIGUEL HUARCAYA , Journal of Latin American Studies 50, no.22 ( 2018): 411.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X17001146Michael D. Hill, Consuelo Fernández-Salvador When Cultural and Natural Patrimony Collide: Sovereignty, State Power, and Political Strategy among the Picapedreros (Stonemasons) of San Pablo, Ecuador, The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 22, no.11 (Oct 2016): 116–136.https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12219Sergio Miguel Huarcaya Performativity, Performance, and Indigenous Activism in Ecuador and the Andes, Comparative Studies in Society and History 57, no.33 (Jun 2015): 806–837.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417515000298Rita Sobczyk, Rosa María Soriano Miras La dimensión étnica de la identidad: la diáspora comercial de Otavalo, Latinoamérica. Revista de Estudios Latinoamericanos 60 (May 2015): 207–238.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.larev.2015.03.004Tanya Casas Transcending the Coloniality of Development, American Behavioral Scientist 58, no.11 (Jul 2013): 30–52.https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213495030Ella Schmidt Indigenous migration: Otavalo diaspora in historical perspective, (Feb 2013).https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm593Jaime Hoogesteger Trans-Forming Social Capital Around Water: Water User Organizations, Water Rights, and Nongovernmental Organizations in Cangahua, the Ecuadorian Andes, Society & Natural Resources 26, no.11 (Jan 2013): 60–74.https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2012.689933Deborah S Rogers, Anantha K Duraiappah, Daniela Christina Antons, Pablo Munoz, Xuemei Bai, Michail Fragkias, Heinz Gutscher A vision for human well-being: transition to social sustainability, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4, no.11 (Feb 2012): 61–73.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2012.01.013Emilia Ferraro Trueque: An Ethnographic Account of Barter, Trade and Money in Andean Ecuador, The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 16, no.11 (Apr 2011): 168–184.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1935-4940.2011.01129.xGaurav Desai BETWEEN INDIGENEITY AND DIASPORA, Interventions 13, no.11 (Mar 2011): 53–66.https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2011.545577Sanjeet Singh, Gagan Deep Sharma, Mandeep Mahendru An Study of Satisfaction Level Among the Farmers Regarding Contract Farming – a Case of North India, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2011).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1854246Sergio Miguel Huarcaya Othering the Mestizo : Alterity and Indigenous Politics in Otavalo, Ecuador, Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 5, no.33 (Nov 2010): 301–315.https://doi.org/10.1080/17442222.2010.513830Emmanuel Skoufias, Trine Lunde, Harry Anthony Patrinos Social Networks among Indigenous Peoples in Mexico, Latin American Research Review 45, no.22 (Sep 2022): 49–67.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0023879100009341Timothy J. Scrase From Marginalized Worker to Impoverished Entrepreneur: The Globalization of the Trade in Crafts and Its Impact on Indian Artisans, (Jan 2009): 102–126.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230274105_5Beatriz Eugenia Cid Aguayo Global Villages and Rural Cosmopolitanism: Exploring Global Ruralities, Globalizations 5, no.44 (Dec 2008): 541–554.https://doi.org/10.1080/14747730802500281Jan Hack Katz Using Business to Create a More Vibrant Craft Sector, (Jan 2008): 171–190.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230612068_9Robyn Eversole Crafting development in Bolivia, Journal of International Development 18, no.77 (Jan 2006): 945–955.https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1297Kenneth R. Young, Jennifer K. Lipton Adaptive Governance and Climate Change in the Tropical Highlands of Western South America, Climatic Change 78, no.11 (Sep 2006): 63–102.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9091-9Tanya Korovkin Indigenous Movements in the Central Andes, Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 1, no.22 (Nov 2006): 143–163.https://doi.org/10.1080/17442220600859221Johan van Rekom, Frank Go Being Discovered, Annals of Tourism Research 33, no.33 (Jul 2006): 767–784.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2006.03.002Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld "Don't be lazy, don't lie, don't steal": Community justice in the neoliberal Andes, American Ethnologist 29, no.33 (Jan 2008): 637–662.https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2002.29.3.637Tanya Korovkin Weak weapons, strong weapons? Hidden resistance and political protest in rural ecuador, The Journal of Peasant Studies 27, no.33 (Feb 2008): 1–29.https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150008438738