Concepts of peasant economy: a theoretical and empirical comparative approach
Številja projekta: J6-1799 (B) SICRIS
Sponsor: Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije (ARRS)
Web pageLink
Period: July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2022
Head: Dr Aleksander Panjek
Partners and researchers involved::
- Univerza na Primorskem, Fakulteta za humanistične študije: Karin Bandelj, dr. Ines Beguš, dr. Lev Centrih, dr. Aleksej Kalc, dr. Aleksander Panjek, dr. Polona Sitar
- Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino: dr. Žarko Lazarevič
Abstract
In traditional mainstream historiography, the peasants, who constituted the vast majority of the population for a long time, are mostly perceived as passive actors, nearly as puppets on the scene of history, whose strings are being moved from above. We question the prevailing assumption that they strove exclusively for survival and make apparent that peasants demonstrate agency and the ability to participate in shaping history, which consequently reveals a much more complex and interesting
image. If we don’t understand the peasants’ society and economy and don’t recognize them any role, we can’t really understand the history of any country.
In the last decade, a renewed and updated interest in this field has emerged in Europe, which also echoes in Slovenia. In current rural history research there is a remarkable shift from structural aspects to the dynamics in rural areas, with an accentuated comparative tendency. The peasants’ engagement in non-agrarian activities is a most prominent feature in Slovene rural history. As a central problem, we perceive the prevailing thesis about the passivity of the peasant
position, emphasizing only the survival tendency while listing a multitude of activities outside farm management, without connecting these two sides of the moon. It’s a conceptual contradiction that may only be overcome by a holistic approach, which understands peasant economy as a system comprehending agrarian and non-agrarian activities. Such renewed perspective reveals what we defined "integrated peasant economy" (IPE).
The IPE concept represents a reinterpretation of Slovene historical empirical information in dialogue with other historiographies. We developed a specific tool to enable comparisons in the form of a list of activities bringing an increase and differentiation of income. The definition of IPE is progressing since five years, mostly within the project Integrated peasant economy in Slovenia in a comparative perspective 16th-19th c. We accomplished a first comparison with other concepts in
international historiography, a review of evidence on peasant income integration in western-central Slovenia and a comparison with case-studies from Italy, Scandinavia and Japan, demonstrating the IPE concept is applicable in different regions and periods. It is a new conceptual tool bringing a new understanding of the functioning of peasant economy, society, labour, and of the role of peasant populations in Slovene and European history. It introduces a new methodology which allows the
comparability of peasant economies through space and time. IPE was presented at several international conferences, where it attracted a considerable interest and approval.
Our aim with the project Concepts of peasant economy: a theoretical and empirical comparative approach (15th-20th c.) is to further define IPE and offer to the international debate an improved theoretical and comparative tool. To this end, we tackle open issues by setting the following goals:
1. Define the scale of the observed reality showing IPE features: e.g. household, community, region.
2. Deepen the theoretical comparison with other concepts: e.g. peasant family economy, Chayanov; protoindustrialization, Mendels; Stone Age economics, Sahlins; pluriactivity; industriousness, de Vries.
3. Sharpen the understanding of the relationship between the IPE system and economic growth, development and crisis.
4. Expand the empirical-comparative approach with case studies from more regions and periods: eastern Slovenia, northern and southern neighbouring regions; socialist period.
The research will be carried out as team work by Slovene researchers and foreign experts who have already successfully cooperated in the previous project and creation of its results. This represents the best guarantee for the feasibility of this project. Its immediate kick-off is assured by the fact that our panel proposals on IPE were already accepted at the AIESEE and R
