Page 389 - 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. 389
household income str ategies in the lombar d valleys ...
zane in the Gobbia valley and Premana in Varrone valley where all peo-
ple had a job). The other villages, in particular those situated in the high
valleys, were characterised by a progressive decrease of young people who
emigrated to the Lombard plain and also to foreign countries in Europe
and America (INEA 1935). At the beginning of the 20th century, state inter-
vention tried to reduce emigration: local public institutions received funds
to help Alpine agriculture and cow breeding; the new Italian cadastre re-
duced the fiscal value of Alpine real estate and also the related tax. How-
ever they were not able to call migrants back: the valleys which lost their
manufactures remained demographically and economically depressed ar-
eas. The demographic balance remained stable or positive only in the low
valleys closest to the main industrial towns of the plain, because daily com-
muting was possible, as well as in those valleys where local manufactures
continued to produce.13
Conclusions
Until the second half of the 19th century, the households in the Lombard
valleys were occupied in a lot of activities besides agriculture, which means
they had to resort to different income strategies involving all their mem-
bers. It existed a real IPE in the sense that the Alpine economy had strong
links with the plain and its big cities where there were markets for migrant
labour and for manufactured products arriving from the Alpine villages.
The strategies followed by the Alpine families to maintain all their mem-
bers foresaw the exploitation of all the different economic opportunities av-
ailable and in particular: the exploitation of small plots of private land as
well as of common land, woods and buildings (hay-lofts, cattle sheds etc.);
the employment in the local centralised manufactures or at home (spinning
and weaving); the improvement of the local craftsmen high skills and the
related production and sale of hand manufactured goods (from iron, brass,
paper etc.) at a very competitive price; the improvement of the other adults’
professional skills to guarantee the renewal of contracts for the seasonal
migration (jobs for Alpine people were in the farms of the plain for the har-
vest and in the towns, e.g. as bricklayers).
It is evident that household income strategies in the Alpine area de-
pended mainly on outside opportunities and markets. However this strong
13 About the valleys where local manufactures were able to stay in business see: Rosset-
ti 1995; Besana 2003; Tedeschi 2008b. About the emigration from the Lombard Al-
pine valleys see also Tedeschi 2002a; Mocarelli 2002.
387
zane in the Gobbia valley and Premana in Varrone valley where all peo-
ple had a job). The other villages, in particular those situated in the high
valleys, were characterised by a progressive decrease of young people who
emigrated to the Lombard plain and also to foreign countries in Europe
and America (INEA 1935). At the beginning of the 20th century, state inter-
vention tried to reduce emigration: local public institutions received funds
to help Alpine agriculture and cow breeding; the new Italian cadastre re-
duced the fiscal value of Alpine real estate and also the related tax. How-
ever they were not able to call migrants back: the valleys which lost their
manufactures remained demographically and economically depressed ar-
eas. The demographic balance remained stable or positive only in the low
valleys closest to the main industrial towns of the plain, because daily com-
muting was possible, as well as in those valleys where local manufactures
continued to produce.13
Conclusions
Until the second half of the 19th century, the households in the Lombard
valleys were occupied in a lot of activities besides agriculture, which means
they had to resort to different income strategies involving all their mem-
bers. It existed a real IPE in the sense that the Alpine economy had strong
links with the plain and its big cities where there were markets for migrant
labour and for manufactured products arriving from the Alpine villages.
The strategies followed by the Alpine families to maintain all their mem-
bers foresaw the exploitation of all the different economic opportunities av-
ailable and in particular: the exploitation of small plots of private land as
well as of common land, woods and buildings (hay-lofts, cattle sheds etc.);
the employment in the local centralised manufactures or at home (spinning
and weaving); the improvement of the local craftsmen high skills and the
related production and sale of hand manufactured goods (from iron, brass,
paper etc.) at a very competitive price; the improvement of the other adults’
professional skills to guarantee the renewal of contracts for the seasonal
migration (jobs for Alpine people were in the farms of the plain for the har-
vest and in the towns, e.g. as bricklayers).
It is evident that household income strategies in the Alpine area de-
pended mainly on outside opportunities and markets. However this strong
13 About the valleys where local manufactures were able to stay in business see: Rosset-
ti 1995; Besana 2003; Tedeschi 2008b. About the emigration from the Lombard Al-
pine valleys see also Tedeschi 2002a; Mocarelli 2002.
387
