Helen O'Connell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199286461
- eISBN:
- 9780191713361
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286461.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, European Literature
This book studies Irish improvement fiction, a neglected genre of 19th-century literary, social, and political history. The book shows how the fiction of Mary Leadbeater, Charles Bardin, Martin ...
More
This book studies Irish improvement fiction, a neglected genre of 19th-century literary, social, and political history. The book shows how the fiction of Mary Leadbeater, Charles Bardin, Martin Doyle, and William Carleton attempted to lure Irish peasants and landowners away from popular genres such as fantasy, romance, and ‘radical’ political tracts as well as ‘high’ literary and philosophical forms of enquiry. These writers attempted to cultivate a taste for the didactic tract, an assertively realist mode of representation. Accordingly, improvement fiction laboured to demonstrate the value of hard work, frugality, and sobriety in a rigorously realistic idiom, representing the contentment that inheres in a plain social order free of excess and embellishment. Improvement discourse defined itself in opposition to the perceived extremism of revolutionary politics and literary writing, seeking (but failing) to exemplify how both political discontent and unhappiness could be offset by a strict practicality and prosaic realism. This book demonstrates how improvement reveals itself to be a literary discourse, enmeshed in the very rhetorical abyss it sought to escape. In addition, the proudly liberal rhetoric of improvement is shown to be at one with the imperial discourse it worked to displace. The book argues that improvement discourse is embedded in the literary and cultural mainstream of modern Ireland and has hindered the development of intellectual and political debate throughout this period. These issues are examined in chapters exploring the career of William Carleton; peasant ‘orality’; educational provision in the post-Union period; the Irish language; secret society violence; Young Ireland nationalism; and the Irish Revival.Less
This book studies Irish improvement fiction, a neglected genre of 19th-century literary, social, and political history. The book shows how the fiction of Mary Leadbeater, Charles Bardin, Martin Doyle, and William Carleton attempted to lure Irish peasants and landowners away from popular genres such as fantasy, romance, and ‘radical’ political tracts as well as ‘high’ literary and philosophical forms of enquiry. These writers attempted to cultivate a taste for the didactic tract, an assertively realist mode of representation. Accordingly, improvement fiction laboured to demonstrate the value of hard work, frugality, and sobriety in a rigorously realistic idiom, representing the contentment that inheres in a plain social order free of excess and embellishment. Improvement discourse defined itself in opposition to the perceived extremism of revolutionary politics and literary writing, seeking (but failing) to exemplify how both political discontent and unhappiness could be offset by a strict practicality and prosaic realism. This book demonstrates how improvement reveals itself to be a literary discourse, enmeshed in the very rhetorical abyss it sought to escape. In addition, the proudly liberal rhetoric of improvement is shown to be at one with the imperial discourse it worked to displace. The book argues that improvement discourse is embedded in the literary and cultural mainstream of modern Ireland and has hindered the development of intellectual and political debate throughout this period. These issues are examined in chapters exploring the career of William Carleton; peasant ‘orality’; educational provision in the post-Union period; the Irish language; secret society violence; Young Ireland nationalism; and the Irish Revival.
Rabindra Ray
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077381
- eISBN:
- 9780199081011
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077381.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is ...
More
The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is the New Democratic revolution. This is to establish the rule of the vast majority of the nation, composed specifically of the peasantry, the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie, upsetting the rule of the landlords, the comprador bourgeoisie, the US imperialists, and the Soviet social-imperialists, who constitute a tiny minority. The terminology in which what became for Mazumdar Jotedar-rajya was codified, defined India as a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country. This chapter also considers the initial formulations of revolution in terrorist tracts. Mazumdar’s view of the revolution is unarmed peasants turning ferociously on their armed oppressors, killing them and snatching their weapons to found an army that will liberate the whole country.Less
The theoretical tradition to which Charu Mazumdar himself links his speculations is the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist. In the materialist metaphysic of these schools, what Mazumdar wants to bring about is the New Democratic revolution. This is to establish the rule of the vast majority of the nation, composed specifically of the peasantry, the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie, upsetting the rule of the landlords, the comprador bourgeoisie, the US imperialists, and the Soviet social-imperialists, who constitute a tiny minority. The terminology in which what became for Mazumdar Jotedar-rajya was codified, defined India as a semi-feudal, semi-colonial country. This chapter also considers the initial formulations of revolution in terrorist tracts. Mazumdar’s view of the revolution is unarmed peasants turning ferociously on their armed oppressors, killing them and snatching their weapons to found an army that will liberate the whole country.
Simon Yarrow
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199283637
- eISBN:
- 9780191712685
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283637.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, History of Religion
This book offers a new approach to the study of lay religion as evidenced in collections of miracle narratives in 12th-century England. There are a number of problems associated with the ...
More
This book offers a new approach to the study of lay religion as evidenced in collections of miracle narratives in 12th-century England. There are a number of problems associated with the interpretation of this hagiographical genre and an extended introduction discusses these. The first issue is the tendency to read these narratives as transparent accounts of lay religion as if it were something susceptible to static, ‘ethnographic’ treatment in isolation from wider social and political activities. The second issue is the challenge of explaining the miraculous as a credible part of cultural experience, without appealing to reductionist notions of a ‘medieval mindset’. The third issue is the problem of how to take full account of the fact that these sources are representations of lay experience by monastic authors. The author argues that miracle narratives were the product of and helped to foster lay notions of Christian practice and identity centred on the spiritual patronage of certain enshrined saints. The six main chapters provide fully contextualized studies of selected miracle collections. The author looks at when these collections were made, who wrote them, the kinds of audiences they are likely to have reached, and the messages they were intended to convey. He shows how these texts served to represent specific cults in terms that articulated the values and interests of the institutions acting as custodians of the relics; and how alongside other programmes of textual production, these collections of stories can be linked to occasions of uncertainty or need in the life of these institutions. A concluding chapter argues the case for miracle collections as evidence of the attempt by traditional monasteries to reach out to the relatively affluent peasantry, and to urban communities in society, and their rural hinterlands with offers of protection and opportunities for them to express their social status with reference to tomb-centred sanctity.Less
This book offers a new approach to the study of lay religion as evidenced in collections of miracle narratives in 12th-century England. There are a number of problems associated with the interpretation of this hagiographical genre and an extended introduction discusses these. The first issue is the tendency to read these narratives as transparent accounts of lay religion as if it were something susceptible to static, ‘ethnographic’ treatment in isolation from wider social and political activities. The second issue is the challenge of explaining the miraculous as a credible part of cultural experience, without appealing to reductionist notions of a ‘medieval mindset’. The third issue is the problem of how to take full account of the fact that these sources are representations of lay experience by monastic authors. The author argues that miracle narratives were the product of and helped to foster lay notions of Christian practice and identity centred on the spiritual patronage of certain enshrined saints. The six main chapters provide fully contextualized studies of selected miracle collections. The author looks at when these collections were made, who wrote them, the kinds of audiences they are likely to have reached, and the messages they were intended to convey. He shows how these texts served to represent specific cults in terms that articulated the values and interests of the institutions acting as custodians of the relics; and how alongside other programmes of textual production, these collections of stories can be linked to occasions of uncertainty or need in the life of these institutions. A concluding chapter argues the case for miracle collections as evidence of the attempt by traditional monasteries to reach out to the relatively affluent peasantry, and to urban communities in society, and their rural hinterlands with offers of protection and opportunities for them to express their social status with reference to tomb-centred sanctity.
François G. Richard
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226252407
- eISBN:
- 9780226252681
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226252681.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
Reluctant Landscapes analyzes the political history of rural communities in the Siin province (Senegal) over the last 400 years. Much of Africa’s global history has been told from the standpoint of ...
More
Reluctant Landscapes analyzes the political history of rural communities in the Siin province (Senegal) over the last 400 years. Much of Africa’s global history has been told from the standpoint of states, but less is known about peasants, whose past has often been written as a tale of political rupture or cultural persistence. Drawing on archaeology, history, and anthropology, this book charts how Siin villagers variably accommodated, resisted, or evaded the incursions of indigenous states, the Atlantic economy, colonialism, and postcolonial government. It pays particular attention to the role of material world – both the landscapes crafted by farmers over generations, and the systems of objects with which they interfaced through trade – in mediating between villagers and broader historical forces, and in shaping their political experiences. Over time, these material worlds incorporated the coordinates of a changing political economy, yet they also conserved certain principles of political life, whose expressions continue to orient collective expectations about politics today. Grounded in Siin’s history and cultural geography, the book not only intends to sharpen historical understanding of peasant communities in Senegal, but it also essays wider critical reflections about capitalism, international slavery, colonial governance, and post-independence statecraft in rural West Africa.Less
Reluctant Landscapes analyzes the political history of rural communities in the Siin province (Senegal) over the last 400 years. Much of Africa’s global history has been told from the standpoint of states, but less is known about peasants, whose past has often been written as a tale of political rupture or cultural persistence. Drawing on archaeology, history, and anthropology, this book charts how Siin villagers variably accommodated, resisted, or evaded the incursions of indigenous states, the Atlantic economy, colonialism, and postcolonial government. It pays particular attention to the role of material world – both the landscapes crafted by farmers over generations, and the systems of objects with which they interfaced through trade – in mediating between villagers and broader historical forces, and in shaping their political experiences. Over time, these material worlds incorporated the coordinates of a changing political economy, yet they also conserved certain principles of political life, whose expressions continue to orient collective expectations about politics today. Grounded in Siin’s history and cultural geography, the book not only intends to sharpen historical understanding of peasant communities in Senegal, but it also essays wider critical reflections about capitalism, international slavery, colonial governance, and post-independence statecraft in rural West Africa.
Patrick R. Mullen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199746699
- eISBN:
- 9780199950270
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199746699.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter argues that Synge deploys a queer aesthetic in his representation of the Irish peasantry. Furthermore, it suggests that by doing so, Synge develops a more fluid and inclusive model of ...
More
This chapter argues that Synge deploys a queer aesthetic in his representation of the Irish peasantry. Furthermore, it suggests that by doing so, Synge develops a more fluid and inclusive model of Irish national affiliation than other writers of the Irish Revival. Rather than seeing a break between Wildean aesthetics as they are embodied in the figure of the dandy and the figure of the peasant promoted by the Revival, the chapter reveals Synge’s project as an elaboration of queer aesthetic practices along new lines. By expanding our understanding of the queer beyond questions of identity to modes of style, the chapter explores how the critical and ethical concerns of queer theory might be brought to bear in novel contexts.Less
This chapter argues that Synge deploys a queer aesthetic in his representation of the Irish peasantry. Furthermore, it suggests that by doing so, Synge develops a more fluid and inclusive model of Irish national affiliation than other writers of the Irish Revival. Rather than seeing a break between Wildean aesthetics as they are embodied in the figure of the dandy and the figure of the peasant promoted by the Revival, the chapter reveals Synge’s project as an elaboration of queer aesthetic practices along new lines. By expanding our understanding of the queer beyond questions of identity to modes of style, the chapter explores how the critical and ethical concerns of queer theory might be brought to bear in novel contexts.
Nigel Leask
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572618
- eISBN:
- 9780191722974
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572618.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, 18th-century Literature
This final chapter follows Burns's life and poetry ‘across the shadow line’ into the realms of posthumous fame, as propelled by the biographical and editorial labours of Dr James Currie, who ...
More
This final chapter follows Burns's life and poetry ‘across the shadow line’ into the realms of posthumous fame, as propelled by the biographical and editorial labours of Dr James Currie, who presented a carefully selected and ‘regulated’ Burns to the Romantic generation. The book concludes by reflecting upon the ‘pastoral closure’ posthumously imposed by Currie upon Burns's poetry, as well as considering Burns's still largely unacknowledged influence on British Romanticism. Proposing that Currie's Burns exerted a major influence on Wordsworth's ‘Preface’ to Lyrical Ballads, it explores the polemic concerning the poet's reputation in the two decades following his death, resulting in the subsequent marginalisation of Scottish Romanticism in relation to an ‘organic’ English model of culture.Less
This final chapter follows Burns's life and poetry ‘across the shadow line’ into the realms of posthumous fame, as propelled by the biographical and editorial labours of Dr James Currie, who presented a carefully selected and ‘regulated’ Burns to the Romantic generation. The book concludes by reflecting upon the ‘pastoral closure’ posthumously imposed by Currie upon Burns's poetry, as well as considering Burns's still largely unacknowledged influence on British Romanticism. Proposing that Currie's Burns exerted a major influence on Wordsworth's ‘Preface’ to Lyrical Ballads, it explores the polemic concerning the poet's reputation in the two decades following his death, resulting in the subsequent marginalisation of Scottish Romanticism in relation to an ‘organic’ English model of culture.
Alan Ryder
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207367
- eISBN:
- 9780191708718
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207367.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This book examines the fate that overtook the principality of Catalonia in the 15th century, reducing it from dominance within the state of Aragon to a marginal role in the Iberian power created by ...
More
This book examines the fate that overtook the principality of Catalonia in the 15th century, reducing it from dominance within the state of Aragon to a marginal role in the Iberian power created by the union of Aragon and Castile. Part one studies the tensions destabilizing Catalonia: unrest among a peasantry resentful of outdated burdens; merchants and artisans struggling to wrest control of the towns from entrenched oligarchies; an aristocracy devoted to endless feuding; and a monarchy thrown into disarray by the extinction of the Catalan line and its replacement by a Castilian dynasty. In 1462, Catalonia degenerated into a civil war that lasted ten years. Part two seeks to explain how and why the king, Juan II, emerged victorious. The economic and military resources of the two camps, their tactics, and the lines along which Catalan society divided are examined. The book looks at the crucial part played by foreign powers in the conflict, who intervened on both sides until Juan turned the tables with his gamble on a Castilian crown for his heir, Fernando. The surrender of the insurgents in 1472 left Catalonia chaotic, devastated, and mired in many more years of war with France as Juan struggled to recover the territories he had surrendered in return for French aid. Catalonia was then helpless before Fernando, the Catholic King of Castile, who became ruler of Catalonia in 1479. The measures he imposed to restore order and subject the principality to the new ‘Spanish’ state are the theme of the final chapter. The events discussed have a continuing resonance in Spain today.Less
This book examines the fate that overtook the principality of Catalonia in the 15th century, reducing it from dominance within the state of Aragon to a marginal role in the Iberian power created by the union of Aragon and Castile. Part one studies the tensions destabilizing Catalonia: unrest among a peasantry resentful of outdated burdens; merchants and artisans struggling to wrest control of the towns from entrenched oligarchies; an aristocracy devoted to endless feuding; and a monarchy thrown into disarray by the extinction of the Catalan line and its replacement by a Castilian dynasty. In 1462, Catalonia degenerated into a civil war that lasted ten years. Part two seeks to explain how and why the king, Juan II, emerged victorious. The economic and military resources of the two camps, their tactics, and the lines along which Catalan society divided are examined. The book looks at the crucial part played by foreign powers in the conflict, who intervened on both sides until Juan turned the tables with his gamble on a Castilian crown for his heir, Fernando. The surrender of the insurgents in 1472 left Catalonia chaotic, devastated, and mired in many more years of war with France as Juan struggled to recover the territories he had surrendered in return for French aid. Catalonia was then helpless before Fernando, the Catholic King of Castile, who became ruler of Catalonia in 1479. The measures he imposed to restore order and subject the principality to the new ‘Spanish’ state are the theme of the final chapter. The events discussed have a continuing resonance in Spain today.
Graeme Gill and Roger D. Markwick
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240418
- eISBN:
- 9780191599347
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240418.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
The course of Russian politics was structured by the political elites acting with little restraint by civil society forces. This was, in part, because of the weakness of those forces. The bourgeoisie ...
More
The course of Russian politics was structured by the political elites acting with little restraint by civil society forces. This was, in part, because of the weakness of those forces. The bourgeoisie did not emerge as an independent force, with significant sections of it remaining closely linked into and reliant upon elements within the state, the working class remained weakly organized with trade unions that could not bring effective force to bear upon the government, the peasantry remained impoverished and unorganized in the countryside and the urban middle class was weak and politically inert. With the exception of the Communist Party, political parties have been weak and ephemeral. The result of all of this is a civil society that is stunted and unable to impose significant constraints upon the elite, which has monopolized political decision‐making.Less
The course of Russian politics was structured by the political elites acting with little restraint by civil society forces. This was, in part, because of the weakness of those forces. The bourgeoisie did not emerge as an independent force, with significant sections of it remaining closely linked into and reliant upon elements within the state, the working class remained weakly organized with trade unions that could not bring effective force to bear upon the government, the peasantry remained impoverished and unorganized in the countryside and the urban middle class was weak and politically inert. With the exception of the Communist Party, political parties have been weak and ephemeral. The result of all of this is a civil society that is stunted and unable to impose significant constraints upon the elite, which has monopolized political decision‐making.
V. P. Danilov
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278665
- eISBN:
- 9780191684227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278665.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter focuses on Bukharin's policy towards the peasantry. It discusses the rural aspects of Bukharin's co-operative collectivization, his alternative to the Stalinist methods of ...
More
This chapter focuses on Bukharin's policy towards the peasantry. It discusses the rural aspects of Bukharin's co-operative collectivization, his alternative to the Stalinist methods of collectivization. It also examines the more general features of Bukharin's views before and during the New Economic Policy (NEP).Less
This chapter focuses on Bukharin's policy towards the peasantry. It discusses the rural aspects of Bukharin's co-operative collectivization, his alternative to the Stalinist methods of collectivization. It also examines the more general features of Bukharin's views before and during the New Economic Policy (NEP).
Sarasij Majumder
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282425
- eISBN:
- 9780823284849
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282425.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter shows the emergence of land-based identities in West Bengal in the postcolonial period. It demonstrates the social and political divisions and hierarchies that had historically existed ...
More
This chapter shows the emergence of land-based identities in West Bengal in the postcolonial period. It demonstrates the social and political divisions and hierarchies that had historically existed in the villages and how in the postcolonial period, certain distinctions gradually softened whereas others based on land hardened. It examines how politicians and policymakers perceived “the villages” and “the rural.” It looks at the political expediencies of elections and democratic politics, which played out in the distribution of land among tenant farmers who constitute the present group of small landholding farmers in Singur. It explores the linguistic distinction between chasa and chasi to trace the changes that occurred in village life and in the subjectivities of small landholding villagers.Less
This chapter shows the emergence of land-based identities in West Bengal in the postcolonial period. It demonstrates the social and political divisions and hierarchies that had historically existed in the villages and how in the postcolonial period, certain distinctions gradually softened whereas others based on land hardened. It examines how politicians and policymakers perceived “the villages” and “the rural.” It looks at the political expediencies of elections and democratic politics, which played out in the distribution of land among tenant farmers who constitute the present group of small landholding farmers in Singur. It explores the linguistic distinction between chasa and chasi to trace the changes that occurred in village life and in the subjectivities of small landholding villagers.
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793853
- eISBN:
- 9780199919246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793853.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the ...
More
Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the enclosure movement and the rise of the market economy. The transition from the gift (or moral) economy to the market economy is said to play a central role in the de-spiriting of the non-human world. The work of Elizabeth Potter on the debate between Robert Boyle and the hylozoist Franciscus Linus, and the defeat of hylozoism, a non-dualistic, non-mechanistic worldview, is presented. Using other historical works, it is argued that hylozoism was the worldview of those who lost out in the struggles of the times, namely the peasantry, the working classes, the heretics, and the “witches.” The new order required a new worldview, the dualist mechanistic one we have inherited.Less
Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the enclosure movement and the rise of the market economy. The transition from the gift (or moral) economy to the market economy is said to play a central role in the de-spiriting of the non-human world. The work of Elizabeth Potter on the debate between Robert Boyle and the hylozoist Franciscus Linus, and the defeat of hylozoism, a non-dualistic, non-mechanistic worldview, is presented. Using other historical works, it is argued that hylozoism was the worldview of those who lost out in the struggles of the times, namely the peasantry, the working classes, the heretics, and the “witches.” The new order required a new worldview, the dualist mechanistic one we have inherited.
Luis Moreno-Caballud
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781781381939
- eISBN:
- 9781781382295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381939.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter examines some distinctive characteristics of the forms of cultural authority prevailing in Spain during a period of neoliberal crisis. It first traces the genealogy of these forms of ...
More
This chapter examines some distinctive characteristics of the forms of cultural authority prevailing in Spain during a period of neoliberal crisis. It first traces the genealogy of these forms of cultural authority, focusing on the ways in which big communications media, experts, politicians and intellectuals have presented the crisis. It then considers the tendency of agencies of cultural authority to promote a competitive, individualistic way of life that lies at the heart of neoliberalism. It also discusses the cultural elites' attempts to make the rest of the population adapt to the capitalist mode of production and distribution of value, a practice that occurred during the second phase of Francoism and enshrined through the technoscientific legitimacy of certain expert elites who claimed to be modernizing the country. The chapter concludes by assessing the impact of capitalist ‘modernization’ and technocracy on the traditional rural community-based peasantry.Less
This chapter examines some distinctive characteristics of the forms of cultural authority prevailing in Spain during a period of neoliberal crisis. It first traces the genealogy of these forms of cultural authority, focusing on the ways in which big communications media, experts, politicians and intellectuals have presented the crisis. It then considers the tendency of agencies of cultural authority to promote a competitive, individualistic way of life that lies at the heart of neoliberalism. It also discusses the cultural elites' attempts to make the rest of the population adapt to the capitalist mode of production and distribution of value, a practice that occurred during the second phase of Francoism and enshrined through the technoscientific legitimacy of certain expert elites who claimed to be modernizing the country. The chapter concludes by assessing the impact of capitalist ‘modernization’ and technocracy on the traditional rural community-based peasantry.
S. E. Finer
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207900
- eISBN:
- 9780191677854
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207900.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This chapter details the rise and fall of the T'ang empire. During the period, three major problems emerged and it can be said that none were satisfactorily solved. The first was the problem of ...
More
This chapter details the rise and fall of the T'ang empire. During the period, three major problems emerged and it can be said that none were satisfactorily solved. The first was the problem of absolutism: in principle, the governmental structure had an apex and that apex was the emperor. The second intractable problem was civil-military relations. Here, the dynasty seems trapped in a no-win situation because by the mid-8th century it concentrated military power on the frontiers, leaving itself no troops. The third unsolved problem was the condition of the peasantry. Defence of frontiers by regular troops required heavy taxation, which led the peasants into either dependency or into flight from the land and still heavier burdens on those who remained; hence banditry, hence the need for more defence and more taxes. On the credit side, the T'ang presents itself as one of the more remarkable of the world's exercises in large-scale government. In its scale — a country the size of the USA; in its duration — 300 years; and in the regularity of its laws and administration until the final convulsion it is an outstanding achievement. For much of the period it was both peaceful, and by contemporary valuation, prosperous.Less
This chapter details the rise and fall of the T'ang empire. During the period, three major problems emerged and it can be said that none were satisfactorily solved. The first was the problem of absolutism: in principle, the governmental structure had an apex and that apex was the emperor. The second intractable problem was civil-military relations. Here, the dynasty seems trapped in a no-win situation because by the mid-8th century it concentrated military power on the frontiers, leaving itself no troops. The third unsolved problem was the condition of the peasantry. Defence of frontiers by regular troops required heavy taxation, which led the peasants into either dependency or into flight from the land and still heavier burdens on those who remained; hence banditry, hence the need for more defence and more taxes. On the credit side, the T'ang presents itself as one of the more remarkable of the world's exercises in large-scale government. In its scale — a country the size of the USA; in its duration — 300 years; and in the regularity of its laws and administration until the final convulsion it is an outstanding achievement. For much of the period it was both peaceful, and by contemporary valuation, prosperous.
Joachim Whaley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693078
- eISBN:
- 9780191732256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693078.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This section argues that absolutism is an inappropriate label to attach to the German territories. Government activity expanded in the face of the need for reconstruction after 1648 and new ideas ...
More
This section argues that absolutism is an inappropriate label to attach to the German territories. Government activity expanded in the face of the need for reconstruction after 1648 and new ideas about the nature of government developed in the early Aufklärung (German Enlightenment). Conditions varied between Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia and smaller counties, knights' territories and imperial cities. The period saw a renewal of the court as a central agency of government (manifested in the construction of new castles and palaces in the baroque style), the development of armies, new relationships between princes and their subjects, and developments in both government and private economic enterprise. Rulers sought to impose confessional uniformity and to control phenomena such as Catholic popular piety or Pietism (Spener) and Protestant revivalism. Ideas of religious toleration emerged, reacting against the confessional conflicts of the past, as well as new forms of territorial patriotism.Less
This section argues that absolutism is an inappropriate label to attach to the German territories. Government activity expanded in the face of the need for reconstruction after 1648 and new ideas about the nature of government developed in the early Aufklärung (German Enlightenment). Conditions varied between Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia and smaller counties, knights' territories and imperial cities. The period saw a renewal of the court as a central agency of government (manifested in the construction of new castles and palaces in the baroque style), the development of armies, new relationships between princes and their subjects, and developments in both government and private economic enterprise. Rulers sought to impose confessional uniformity and to control phenomena such as Catholic popular piety or Pietism (Spener) and Protestant revivalism. Ideas of religious toleration emerged, reacting against the confessional conflicts of the past, as well as new forms of territorial patriotism.
CHRISTOPHER MORASH
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198182795
- eISBN:
- 9780191673887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198182795.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter shows the troubled space occupied by William Carleton's writing in 19th-century Ireland. On one hand, there is mistrust and the fear of the heterodox; on the other, Carleton offers a ...
More
This chapter shows the troubled space occupied by William Carleton's writing in 19th-century Ireland. On one hand, there is mistrust and the fear of the heterodox; on the other, Carleton offers a textual ‘reality’ which answers the need, so urgent in the 1840s, for authentic, ‘truthful’ representations of ‘Country Life’ which the Irish Famine was transforming out of all recognition. He was in a unique position to provide these authentic representations: and yet, in his life and in his writing, he is curiously resistant to ideological appropriation. As a young man he had considered a career in the priesthood, his earliest accounts of the Irish peasantry were in the virulently anti-Catholic style of the Christian Examiner in which they were published. He also contributed poems and journalism to the Nation, and wrote three didactic novels for ‘Library of Ireland’.Less
This chapter shows the troubled space occupied by William Carleton's writing in 19th-century Ireland. On one hand, there is mistrust and the fear of the heterodox; on the other, Carleton offers a textual ‘reality’ which answers the need, so urgent in the 1840s, for authentic, ‘truthful’ representations of ‘Country Life’ which the Irish Famine was transforming out of all recognition. He was in a unique position to provide these authentic representations: and yet, in his life and in his writing, he is curiously resistant to ideological appropriation. As a young man he had considered a career in the priesthood, his earliest accounts of the Irish peasantry were in the virulently anti-Catholic style of the Christian Examiner in which they were published. He also contributed poems and journalism to the Nation, and wrote three didactic novels for ‘Library of Ireland’.
Robert Hefner
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520069336
- eISBN:
- 9780520913769
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520069336.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
A rich and sensitive portrait of a changing peasantry, this study is also a general inquiry into the nature of status, class, and community in the developing world, presenting an analysis designed to ...
More
A rich and sensitive portrait of a changing peasantry, this study is also a general inquiry into the nature of status, class, and community in the developing world, presenting an analysis designed to bridge the gap between village studies and social history. It describes the forces that have shaped upland politics and society from pre-colonial times to the Green Revolution today.Less
A rich and sensitive portrait of a changing peasantry, this study is also a general inquiry into the nature of status, class, and community in the developing world, presenting an analysis designed to bridge the gap between village studies and social history. It describes the forces that have shaped upland politics and society from pre-colonial times to the Green Revolution today.
Jeremy Krikler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203803
- eISBN:
- 9780191675997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203803.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter evaluates the relative independence of the Transvaal peasantry in the first years of the twentieth century. One of the purposes of this chapter is to demonstrate the existence of the ...
More
This chapter evaluates the relative independence of the Transvaal peasantry in the first years of the twentieth century. One of the purposes of this chapter is to demonstrate the existence of the prevalence of pre-capitalist relations of production in agriculture and assess their significance. Any notion of pre-capitalist relations is, of course, predicated upon an anterior conception of capitalism itself. Agrarian capitalism is any notion of pre-capitalist relations predicated upon an anterior conception of capitalism itself. Workers separated from the means of production are notoriously difficult to find in agriculture. Even on advanced capitalist farms, workers may exercise all their resourcefulness to maintain a small plot of crop-producing ground to which they can turn their attention when their time is no longer claimed by their exploiters. The produce from their personal agricultural pursuits is, however, incapable of sustaining them and their dependents.Less
This chapter evaluates the relative independence of the Transvaal peasantry in the first years of the twentieth century. One of the purposes of this chapter is to demonstrate the existence of the prevalence of pre-capitalist relations of production in agriculture and assess their significance. Any notion of pre-capitalist relations is, of course, predicated upon an anterior conception of capitalism itself. Agrarian capitalism is any notion of pre-capitalist relations predicated upon an anterior conception of capitalism itself. Workers separated from the means of production are notoriously difficult to find in agriculture. Even on advanced capitalist farms, workers may exercise all their resourcefulness to maintain a small plot of crop-producing ground to which they can turn their attention when their time is no longer claimed by their exploiters. The produce from their personal agricultural pursuits is, however, incapable of sustaining them and their dependents.
Jeremy Krikler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203803
- eISBN:
- 9780191675997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203803.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter outlines the conflicts between the state and landowners on the one hand, and direct producers on the other, over those policies and actions undertaken at this time in order to immerse ...
More
This chapter outlines the conflicts between the state and landowners on the one hand, and direct producers on the other, over those policies and actions undertaken at this time in order to immerse the black peasantry in ever deeper levels of alienated labour. The heart of agrarian class conflict is laid bare and is found to constitute, on the one hand, the determination of peasants to maintain and defend as far as possible their social role and economic sovereignty and, on the other, the resolve of landlords and state functionaries to adulterate—as far as they could—peasant existence with an exploitation and productivity activity alien to it and commanded by others. Transvaal exercised much ingenuity and combativeness in the early twentieth century. In fact, well over half of all black people in the Transvaal crammed themselves into under 8,000 square miles of the territory—half of it white-owned land—where the more independent forms of peasant life could be enjoyed.Less
This chapter outlines the conflicts between the state and landowners on the one hand, and direct producers on the other, over those policies and actions undertaken at this time in order to immerse the black peasantry in ever deeper levels of alienated labour. The heart of agrarian class conflict is laid bare and is found to constitute, on the one hand, the determination of peasants to maintain and defend as far as possible their social role and economic sovereignty and, on the other, the resolve of landlords and state functionaries to adulterate—as far as they could—peasant existence with an exploitation and productivity activity alien to it and commanded by others. Transvaal exercised much ingenuity and combativeness in the early twentieth century. In fact, well over half of all black people in the Transvaal crammed themselves into under 8,000 square miles of the territory—half of it white-owned land—where the more independent forms of peasant life could be enjoyed.
Jeremy Krikler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203803
- eISBN:
- 9780191675997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203803.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
The conclusion of the book brings together findings and theorizes them under the rubric ‘Revolution from Above, Rebellion from Below’. The Boer War and Reconstruction periods manifestly witnessed the ...
More
The conclusion of the book brings together findings and theorizes them under the rubric ‘Revolution from Above, Rebellion from Below’. The Boer War and Reconstruction periods manifestly witnessed the destruction of an existing state order and the creation of a new one in its place. The chapter focuses on the important but secondary role played by the black peasantry in the war against its landowners. It is queried whether the Boer War and the Reconstruction that followed it created the conditions in which capitalist property could flourish. The whole setting in which mining capitalism had to operate was made secure for the long-term investments that were to yield profits to generation upon generation of shareholders. The purview of this book, however, is not the urban but the rural world, where most of the Transvaal's population was located at the time. Here, the question of whether the revolution created the conditions in which capitalist property could flourish is more difficult to answer.Less
The conclusion of the book brings together findings and theorizes them under the rubric ‘Revolution from Above, Rebellion from Below’. The Boer War and Reconstruction periods manifestly witnessed the destruction of an existing state order and the creation of a new one in its place. The chapter focuses on the important but secondary role played by the black peasantry in the war against its landowners. It is queried whether the Boer War and the Reconstruction that followed it created the conditions in which capitalist property could flourish. The whole setting in which mining capitalism had to operate was made secure for the long-term investments that were to yield profits to generation upon generation of shareholders. The purview of this book, however, is not the urban but the rural world, where most of the Transvaal's population was located at the time. Here, the question of whether the revolution created the conditions in which capitalist property could flourish is more difficult to answer.
Robin Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206033
- eISBN:
- 9780191676932
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206033.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Hatred of others and the power to harm them by occult are central themes in the popular conception of witchcraft. If the crime itself was imaginary, punishable only where the accused was coerced into ...
More
Hatred of others and the power to harm them by occult are central themes in the popular conception of witchcraft. If the crime itself was imaginary, punishable only where the accused was coerced into a fraudulent confession, this does not mean that it can be relegated to some area of nightmarish fantasy. Apart from the brutal realities of trials and executions, the trial records provide a glimpse into the everyday world of human relationships among the peasantry. Witnesses spoke of real events, although they might edit and interpret them in ways of which we must be wary. Even when the accused succumbed to pressure from their judges, telling stories of imaginary happenings, these are often recognizable as indirect representations of social realities. In Lorraine, the judicial arrangements were distinctly unfavourable to the suspects; there was no superior court to hear appeals in the manner of the French parlements, or to exercise effective control over the amateur judges who sat in the local courts.Less
Hatred of others and the power to harm them by occult are central themes in the popular conception of witchcraft. If the crime itself was imaginary, punishable only where the accused was coerced into a fraudulent confession, this does not mean that it can be relegated to some area of nightmarish fantasy. Apart from the brutal realities of trials and executions, the trial records provide a glimpse into the everyday world of human relationships among the peasantry. Witnesses spoke of real events, although they might edit and interpret them in ways of which we must be wary. Even when the accused succumbed to pressure from their judges, telling stories of imaginary happenings, these are often recognizable as indirect representations of social realities. In Lorraine, the judicial arrangements were distinctly unfavourable to the suspects; there was no superior court to hear appeals in the manner of the French parlements, or to exercise effective control over the amateur judges who sat in the local courts.
