Page 233 - 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. 233
intangible and material evidence on the slovenian peasant economy ...
Further information of interest for the integrated peasant economy,
obtainable from documents related to the land market, are the dimensions
of holdings, the ratio between arable land and meadows, as well as the in-
cidence of real estate transactions within the family. In fact, holdings too
small to grant the household’s survival from subsistence agriculture alone,
are often the frame in which non-agrarian income sources play a major
role, and in which scarce arable land further accentuates such patterns. If
holdings are ‘too’ small, it means the population is ‘too’ numerous for the
area: this signals again that we are in the presence of an integrated peasant
economy, since it raises the demographic carrying capacity of the territo-
ry. On the other hand, a relevant prevalence of meadows and pastures in-
dicates a major role of animal breeding, which is likely to be (at least part-
ly) market oriented. Large commons represent a widespread characteristic
of the integrated peasant economy environment too. Apart from its central
role in peasant economic strategies in general, the family is important also
with regard to the question of the social unit at whose level we shall search
for and observe the peasant income integration practices: is it an area, the
village community, the single household, or perhaps also the network of re-
lated families?
We may spot the family in another relevant role to our end, which is
somehow related to the land market (especially to the right to dispose of the
farms and to the dimensions of holdings) – in the inheritance practices and
the existence of a partibility (or impartibility) system. It has recently been
stressed how household formation patterns “cannot be explained by inher-
itance customs alone” and that “there is a need for a reassessment that takes
into account […] also cultural values, the land market, agricultural chang-
es, proto-industry and openings away from the farm” (Head-König 2012,
17). These considerations go exactly in our direction, but we would add that
peasant household formation must be explained, also taking into account
that the peasant economy was in many cases an integrated one. This means
that inheritance practices allowing the fragmentation of farms were eco-
nomically rational because other income sources were expected (in a wid-
er range of opportunities than proto-industrial activities only, which are,
anyway, part of our model). In this sense farm division practices may be
understood as an indicator of the fact that we are in the presence of an in-
tegrated peasant economy (Panjek 2015a).
A relevant difficulty we encounter in addressing economic issues in
early modern Slovenian history, and even more so in presenting interpre-
231
Further information of interest for the integrated peasant economy,
obtainable from documents related to the land market, are the dimensions
of holdings, the ratio between arable land and meadows, as well as the in-
cidence of real estate transactions within the family. In fact, holdings too
small to grant the household’s survival from subsistence agriculture alone,
are often the frame in which non-agrarian income sources play a major
role, and in which scarce arable land further accentuates such patterns. If
holdings are ‘too’ small, it means the population is ‘too’ numerous for the
area: this signals again that we are in the presence of an integrated peasant
economy, since it raises the demographic carrying capacity of the territo-
ry. On the other hand, a relevant prevalence of meadows and pastures in-
dicates a major role of animal breeding, which is likely to be (at least part-
ly) market oriented. Large commons represent a widespread characteristic
of the integrated peasant economy environment too. Apart from its central
role in peasant economic strategies in general, the family is important also
with regard to the question of the social unit at whose level we shall search
for and observe the peasant income integration practices: is it an area, the
village community, the single household, or perhaps also the network of re-
lated families?
We may spot the family in another relevant role to our end, which is
somehow related to the land market (especially to the right to dispose of the
farms and to the dimensions of holdings) – in the inheritance practices and
the existence of a partibility (or impartibility) system. It has recently been
stressed how household formation patterns “cannot be explained by inher-
itance customs alone” and that “there is a need for a reassessment that takes
into account […] also cultural values, the land market, agricultural chang-
es, proto-industry and openings away from the farm” (Head-König 2012,
17). These considerations go exactly in our direction, but we would add that
peasant household formation must be explained, also taking into account
that the peasant economy was in many cases an integrated one. This means
that inheritance practices allowing the fragmentation of farms were eco-
nomically rational because other income sources were expected (in a wid-
er range of opportunities than proto-industrial activities only, which are,
anyway, part of our model). In this sense farm division practices may be
understood as an indicator of the fact that we are in the presence of an in-
tegrated peasant economy (Panjek 2015a).
A relevant difficulty we encounter in addressing economic issues in
early modern Slovenian history, and even more so in presenting interpre-
231
