Page 107 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 107
integr ated peasant economy in friuli (16th–18th centuries)
manor’s property, from the countryside to the urban markets. Also this
transport was regulated by agricultural contracts.
Finally, the small ambulant trade, as we already noted, was widespread
mainly in some villages in the mountains, while smuggling, in the specific
geographical context of Friuli, an area contiguous to and permeated by the
Imperial territories, was a quite common, almost universal practice (Bian-
co 1990; 1998).
After having explored the integrated peasant economy at the village
level, we will now attempt to analyse the concept at the household level, in
light of the fact that the family was the main productive unit in pre-indus-
trial society. In this context we naturally need to discuss the internal dis-
tribution of work and the role of women; these aspects are summed up in
Table 4.2. Similarly to what has been done before, we cross-checked the in-
formation related to the activities with the distribution of work at the gen-
der level in the two different environmental contexts. We indicate with the
letter M the activities mainly performed by men, while the letter F identi-
fies those performed by women. Consistently with our starting assump-
tion, therefore, the higher number of Fs, the more relevant the role of the
woman in the economy and, supposedly, in the decision-making process
within the family, and consequently the more favourable the level of the in-
tegrated peasant economy.
As can be seen in Table 4.2, in the mountains, the distribution of work
within the family was clear-cut and was based on the dichotomy male =
migrant labour, female = sedentary labour.8 Within the village, an analo-
gous distribution took place – socially, culturally, and economically – be-
tween migrant families and sedentary families. The latter’s array of activ-
ities was not so to say universal, but it was based only on some activities,
such as short distance transport, some activities linked to the tertiary sec-
tor, such as local trade, notaries, small credit, and so forth. In this context,
therefore, women played an important economic role which was mainly
based on agriculture, but also domestic processing. In Carnia, by way of
example, spinning was widespread in many villages, and its raw material
was the production of wool on a local scale (Gri 1995). The absence of men,
involved in migrant activities, for a large part of the year, left ample mar-
gins of autonomy to women. Women were responsible for the family, for
8 On this dichotomy, which can be traced to a large part of the alpine area, see Loren-
zetti and Merzario 2005, 3–14; Valsangiacomo and Lorenzetti 2010. Overall, see Vi-
azzo 2009, 121–52; and Fontaine 1998.
105
manor’s property, from the countryside to the urban markets. Also this
transport was regulated by agricultural contracts.
Finally, the small ambulant trade, as we already noted, was widespread
mainly in some villages in the mountains, while smuggling, in the specific
geographical context of Friuli, an area contiguous to and permeated by the
Imperial territories, was a quite common, almost universal practice (Bian-
co 1990; 1998).
After having explored the integrated peasant economy at the village
level, we will now attempt to analyse the concept at the household level, in
light of the fact that the family was the main productive unit in pre-indus-
trial society. In this context we naturally need to discuss the internal dis-
tribution of work and the role of women; these aspects are summed up in
Table 4.2. Similarly to what has been done before, we cross-checked the in-
formation related to the activities with the distribution of work at the gen-
der level in the two different environmental contexts. We indicate with the
letter M the activities mainly performed by men, while the letter F identi-
fies those performed by women. Consistently with our starting assump-
tion, therefore, the higher number of Fs, the more relevant the role of the
woman in the economy and, supposedly, in the decision-making process
within the family, and consequently the more favourable the level of the in-
tegrated peasant economy.
As can be seen in Table 4.2, in the mountains, the distribution of work
within the family was clear-cut and was based on the dichotomy male =
migrant labour, female = sedentary labour.8 Within the village, an analo-
gous distribution took place – socially, culturally, and economically – be-
tween migrant families and sedentary families. The latter’s array of activ-
ities was not so to say universal, but it was based only on some activities,
such as short distance transport, some activities linked to the tertiary sec-
tor, such as local trade, notaries, small credit, and so forth. In this context,
therefore, women played an important economic role which was mainly
based on agriculture, but also domestic processing. In Carnia, by way of
example, spinning was widespread in many villages, and its raw material
was the production of wool on a local scale (Gri 1995). The absence of men,
involved in migrant activities, for a large part of the year, left ample mar-
gins of autonomy to women. Women were responsible for the family, for
8 On this dichotomy, which can be traced to a large part of the alpine area, see Loren-
zetti and Merzario 2005, 3–14; Valsangiacomo and Lorenzetti 2010. Overall, see Vi-
azzo 2009, 121–52; and Fontaine 1998.
105
