Page 381 - 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. 381
household income str ategies in the lombar d valleys ...
ing the workforce needed for the Alpine manufactures and rural activities.
The IPE also implied that in the Alpine valleys existed a good number of
skilled and pluriactive workers: it is evident they could work in several sec-
tors only if they were disposed to learning more jobs and if they demon-
strated having a relevant ability, in particular in case they had to work out-
side of their native village.
The IPE was very important because it avoided permanent emigration
out of the Alpine valleys and it maintained a stable dimension of the Al-
pine villages. Only a few of the Lombard Alpine people had to emigrate for
a long time since for the equilibrium of the IPE, seasonal emigration was
normally enough. So, until the second half of the 19th century, these valleys
did not become a “factory producing men for the plain” as it happened in
other European mountains (e.g. for some valleys of the Pyrenes and of the
High Western Alps).7
The members of the Lombard Alpine families worked in a lot of dif-
ferent economic activities: in agriculture, cattle-breeding, forestry as well
as in Alpine manufactures and mines. They worked in local manufactures
producing goods from iron or brass or wool clothing or raw silk. Besides,
there were some manufacturing activities which gave many work opportu-
nities both at home (spinning and weaving) and outside (mining, charcoal
production, forges, paper plants and sawmills etc.), as services did (trans-
port of raw materials and products). Some jobs in the Alpine valleys were
seasonal: e.g. people working in the local mines were occupied, especially
in winter, when the cold temperatures reduced the risk of flooding in the
tunnels.
This explains why the members of these families worked as peasants
and/or workers and/or bricklayers and/or miners and/or charcoal burn-
ers and/or woodcutters and/or longshoremen. Excluding the cases of the
craftsmen who had very high professional skills and worked in the forges
only, all other jobs in the Alpine valleys did not provide enough money to
maintain the whole family. This means it was the sum of all earnings relat-
ed to the different activities carried out by the members of the Alpine fam-
ilies which allowed them to achieve economic and financial equilibrium
and to guarantee food for all the family members.8 When the available jobs
7 About the mountains as “factories producing workforce for the plain” and the relat-
ed debate see Braudel 19662; Albera and Corti 2000; Lorenzetti and Merzario 2005;
Mathieu 2016.
8 It is not surprising then, that on the cereal markets where alpine valleys bought the
grain, they needed thousands of tons of cereals. Only at the Desenzano market in
379
ing the workforce needed for the Alpine manufactures and rural activities.
The IPE also implied that in the Alpine valleys existed a good number of
skilled and pluriactive workers: it is evident they could work in several sec-
tors only if they were disposed to learning more jobs and if they demon-
strated having a relevant ability, in particular in case they had to work out-
side of their native village.
The IPE was very important because it avoided permanent emigration
out of the Alpine valleys and it maintained a stable dimension of the Al-
pine villages. Only a few of the Lombard Alpine people had to emigrate for
a long time since for the equilibrium of the IPE, seasonal emigration was
normally enough. So, until the second half of the 19th century, these valleys
did not become a “factory producing men for the plain” as it happened in
other European mountains (e.g. for some valleys of the Pyrenes and of the
High Western Alps).7
The members of the Lombard Alpine families worked in a lot of dif-
ferent economic activities: in agriculture, cattle-breeding, forestry as well
as in Alpine manufactures and mines. They worked in local manufactures
producing goods from iron or brass or wool clothing or raw silk. Besides,
there were some manufacturing activities which gave many work opportu-
nities both at home (spinning and weaving) and outside (mining, charcoal
production, forges, paper plants and sawmills etc.), as services did (trans-
port of raw materials and products). Some jobs in the Alpine valleys were
seasonal: e.g. people working in the local mines were occupied, especially
in winter, when the cold temperatures reduced the risk of flooding in the
tunnels.
This explains why the members of these families worked as peasants
and/or workers and/or bricklayers and/or miners and/or charcoal burn-
ers and/or woodcutters and/or longshoremen. Excluding the cases of the
craftsmen who had very high professional skills and worked in the forges
only, all other jobs in the Alpine valleys did not provide enough money to
maintain the whole family. This means it was the sum of all earnings relat-
ed to the different activities carried out by the members of the Alpine fam-
ilies which allowed them to achieve economic and financial equilibrium
and to guarantee food for all the family members.8 When the available jobs
7 About the mountains as “factories producing workforce for the plain” and the relat-
ed debate see Braudel 19662; Albera and Corti 2000; Lorenzetti and Merzario 2005;
Mathieu 2016.
8 It is not surprising then, that on the cereal markets where alpine valleys bought the
grain, they needed thousands of tons of cereals. Only at the Desenzano market in
379