Sociology and Space, No. 15, 1967.
Original scientific paper
Forms of Mutual Cooperation in Village
Matija Golob
Abstract
The author presents the results of his investigation of various forms of mutual
cooperation and help in remote mountainous villages in Slovenia. In these villages
vvitn many archaic characteristics, one meets tradition and new forms of economic
and social life which flow from urban and industrial centers. In connection with
the concrete forms of cooperaion among rural inhabitants the author differentiates
those ones which are related to production and those ones which implies cultural
and recreative manifestations. Some of them are younger and some of them are
older by their origin, rooted in the traditional rural community. The cooperation
of rural inhabiatants appears in more aspects and institutional patterns, some of
younger and some of older origin, by which criterion one can evaluate the degree
of traditional solidarity of rural population, that is to establish the definite
typological classification.
At first, modern forms of cooperation are presented which realizes themselves
in various economic institutions, such as agricultural cooperative, forest-husbandry,
road-construction enterprise and some other social and economic associations
whose activity is felt in village. It is worth while to mention the voluntary actions
of rural population in building up roads, bridges, canalization, post-offices, transformator-
stations, in collecting up money for electrification purposes, etc. But for
the sociological study of the development of village particularly interesting are
the relations of cooperation within s. c. transitional types of institutions in which
one finds interwined archaic with the new contents and forms. These are the
actions of ordering comon pasture land, and watering places, maintainance and
clearing up of roads, fixing up fences, etc.
Rural community, s. c. srenje, has a great cohesive power and indirectly
repress those inhabitants who do not accept the cooperative action. The author
enumerates the works which are being done under the influence and within the
traditional rural community-xren/e. Ritual-recreative manifestations are interwoven
into these works. These action are again related to the setting up regulations of
village life, use of common forest-land, cutting and distribution of wood and at
recent to various contacts with economic enterprises. The author gives several comments
on neighbourhood cooperation, especially those ones he were investigated.
The author also informs about some ritual and cult manifestations of rural
inhabitants, which sometimes take place independently but the most often in
connection with economic actions.
The author concludes with the hypothesis that the rural community-sren/e
on its higher level of development has not broken off its connections with older
communities, originated from still older institution of common ownership of all free peasants upon the inherited common husbandry.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
118554
URI
Publication date:
20.3.1967.
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