Sociology and Space, No. 77-78, 1982.
Original scientific paper
Peasant Values
Henri Mendras
Abstract
Many authors have built up a picture
of the peasantry as a homogeneous
social class, whose main values are:
love of land, loyalty to the family, and
distrust of the outside world.
In this contribution H. Mendras explains
that this is a simplified view of
peasant values, which cannot be applied
to all peasant societies. There
are regions, even in the Mediterranean,
where peasants do not love their land.
Family loyalty has shown its other
face in bitter inter-family rivalry and
conflict, and although they do not
trust strangers, peasants are nevertheless
very hospitable towards anyone
who comes into the village from outside.
Their ideology, i. e. their view
of the world, is very important for
the behaviour of village inhabitants,
and changes of values can precede
other important changes in the rural
society.
in spite of widespread opinions about
the pertinacity of peasant routine, faced
with modernization European peasants
change their habits relatively
quickly if they can envison the advantages
of change, and if they have the
means to realize it.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
119622
URI
Publication date:
20.12.1982.
Visits: 1.493 *