Page 45 - 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. 45
the integrated peasant economy as a concept in progress
which Satoshi Murayama and colleagues propose that “an integrated econ-
omy should be considered not only within the family and a village but also
within a certain regional unit of villages and village networks.”
Last but not least, there are the contributions of additional features of
the integrated peasant economy. Here Luca Mocarelli and Paolo Tedeschi
in particular, but also Alessandra Bulgarelli, Jesper Larsson and Mats Mo-
rell have to be mentioned for explicitly or implicitly proposing that the in-
fluence of external markets and external demand has to be taken in due
consideration. As we have seen in the first part, Slovenian scholarship too
allows the speaking of an export-led integrated peasant economy. Besides
this, other factors external to the local peasant economies must be taken
care of, as not only Žarko Lazarević mentioned in the case of Slovenia, but
also Luca Mocarelli and Paolo Tedeschi convincingly demonstrate on the
case of Lombardy, concluding that “this strong dependence from exoge-
nous factors could become a reason of weakness, as the changes in the 19th
century clearly showed” (in this case they were related to the industrial and
political developments). Quite the same may be said about the role of the
commons that in Larsson as well as in Mocarelli and Tedeschi are inter-
preted as an important pool of resources usable (and used) for income in-
tegration practices. This trait is implicitly confirmed by other case studies
too and may well be extended as a general feature of the integrated peas-
ant economy, although it is not necessarily present, since we have cases
in which peasants perform income integration practices without counting
on decisive common assets. Alessandra Bulgarelli expressed the interesting
proposal to include “social capital” as one of the distinctive features of the
integrated peasant economy. This is another aspect that has to be left for fu-
ture discussion and evidence.
Upgraded features of the integrated peasant economy
1. Peasants combine agriculture and market oriented activities to
make their living and/or raise their living standard.
2. Market oriented activities represent an equal (may be minor or
major) income source compared to subsistence agriculture.
3. The adopted activities and income sources belong to the three
economic sectors (primary, secondary and tertiary).
4. The system is dynamic and flexible, adapts to changes in the avail-
ability of income sources and the market conditions, in the popu-
lation and in family structure through time.
43
which Satoshi Murayama and colleagues propose that “an integrated econ-
omy should be considered not only within the family and a village but also
within a certain regional unit of villages and village networks.”
Last but not least, there are the contributions of additional features of
the integrated peasant economy. Here Luca Mocarelli and Paolo Tedeschi
in particular, but also Alessandra Bulgarelli, Jesper Larsson and Mats Mo-
rell have to be mentioned for explicitly or implicitly proposing that the in-
fluence of external markets and external demand has to be taken in due
consideration. As we have seen in the first part, Slovenian scholarship too
allows the speaking of an export-led integrated peasant economy. Besides
this, other factors external to the local peasant economies must be taken
care of, as not only Žarko Lazarević mentioned in the case of Slovenia, but
also Luca Mocarelli and Paolo Tedeschi convincingly demonstrate on the
case of Lombardy, concluding that “this strong dependence from exoge-
nous factors could become a reason of weakness, as the changes in the 19th
century clearly showed” (in this case they were related to the industrial and
political developments). Quite the same may be said about the role of the
commons that in Larsson as well as in Mocarelli and Tedeschi are inter-
preted as an important pool of resources usable (and used) for income in-
tegration practices. This trait is implicitly confirmed by other case studies
too and may well be extended as a general feature of the integrated peas-
ant economy, although it is not necessarily present, since we have cases
in which peasants perform income integration practices without counting
on decisive common assets. Alessandra Bulgarelli expressed the interesting
proposal to include “social capital” as one of the distinctive features of the
integrated peasant economy. This is another aspect that has to be left for fu-
ture discussion and evidence.
Upgraded features of the integrated peasant economy
1. Peasants combine agriculture and market oriented activities to
make their living and/or raise their living standard.
2. Market oriented activities represent an equal (may be minor or
major) income source compared to subsistence agriculture.
3. The adopted activities and income sources belong to the three
economic sectors (primary, secondary and tertiary).
4. The system is dynamic and flexible, adapts to changes in the avail-
ability of income sources and the market conditions, in the popu-
lation and in family structure through time.
43
