Introduction: Critical Agrarian Studies in Theory and Practice

In this introductory article we argue for renewed attention to life and labor on and of the land—or what we call the field of Critical Agrarian Studies. Empirically rich and theoretically rigorous studies of humanity's relationship to “soil” remain essential not just for historical analysis but for understanding urgent contemporary crises, including widespread food insecurity, climate change, the proliferation of environmental refugees, growing corporate power and threats to biodiversity. The article introduces an innovative and varied collection of works in Critical Agrarian Studies and also examines the intellectual and political history of this broader field.     

中国农民工问题研究述论

进入21世纪以来,"农民工"问题渐成为学术关注的焦点之一。从现状与对策角度进行的研究较多,从历史角度进行的研究有待加强。目前学界围绕农民工的定义、"农民工"现象的起源、农民工问题的历史发展及其处理对策变迁、解决农民工问题的深层次困难、解决农民工问题的前景与基本思路,展开了有关讨论。由于"农民工"在我国城镇化、工业化与现代化进程中将长期存在,因此,"农民工"问题将持续成为学术关注的热点问题。     

对南明永历政权之考量

明末统治阶级的横征暴敛及连年自然灾害,促使农民大起义暴发。李自成农民义军攻入北京,推翻明王朝后,紧接着吴三桂引清军入关。随着全国社会主要矛盾的急剧变化,农民起义军由原之反对明王朝统治转为联合明宗室所建南明政权共同抗清斗争。     

Consumption and endeavour

Over the course of the 18th century, it is apparent from studies of probate inventories that the consumption of bought textiles, stimulants and household goods among common people increased substantially. This article presents empirical evidence to demonstrate that this is the case also among fisher-farming households in the region of north Norway studied here. The article then explores the relevance of the concept of an industrious revolution to explain the changes in consumption. It would appear that increased consumption was accompanied by more strenuous work, but whether consumption change was demand or supply led is undetermined. Attention is given to what motivated the acquisition of new consumables. It is shown that new consumer goods were used to bolster traditional customs. Nonetheless, attitudes towards acquisition and a desire to increase comfort might have been significant factors leading to increasing demand.     

论中国古代的反政府武装及其相关问题

我们通常所说的“农民起义”的领导人并不都是农民,但是只要具有政治目的,实际上就是来自社会下层的反政府武装,而皇亲国戚的叛乱和藩镇军阀的割据则是来自社会上层的反政府武装。至于那些没有政治目的土匪、强盗、邪教、帮派、会党等黑社会势力则是反社会武装。反政府武装和反社会武装都会给社会带来动乱,然而民众却往往对他们寄予同情,那是因为民众对政府不满而又不能用合法的方法去更换它。反政府武装的结局与原则只有一个——成则为王,败则为寇。反政府武装和政府的斗争不是阶级斗争,但是却推动了改朝换代,也是造成古代社会动乱不已的原因。研究反政府武装的目的是为了设计出理性明智的政治制度,建设和谐安定的社会。     

Debt‐Bonded Brick Kiln Workers and Their Intent to Return: Towards a Labour Geography of Smallholder Farming Persistence in Cambodia

Despite the increasing preponderance of non‐farm work in Cambodia, labour migrants across a range of working conditions remain linked to their rural homesteads through durable financial and social arrangements. This article explores this phenomenon through the case of debt‐bonded brick kiln workers in Phnom Penh, formerly smallholder farmers in villages. Drawing on the field of labour geography, the article first examines the process by which labourers became debt‐bonded, thus situating them within the country’s broader agrarian transition and recasting peasants as rural labour. It then explores workers’ perceptions of rural life, suggesting that the unfreedom of kiln work, contrasted with the fixedness and potential for mobility in rural life, makes workers aspire to return to their land. The article ultimately highlights how the persistence of smallholder farmers can be understood as an issue of poor work under neoliberalism in Cambodia, and draws light on the agency of labour in understanding this.     

THE SEMIOTICS OF SERFDOM: How serfdom was perceived in the Swedish conglomerate state, 1561–1806

The Swedish conglomerate state has been characterized by the special status of its provinces. While serfdom did not exist in Sweden and Finland, it was accepted in the Baltic and German provinces. The main aim of the paper is to explore how the institution of serfdom was understood and interpreted in Stockholm. It will analyse the question of how the Swedish central government’s position on serfdom changed between 1561 and 1806. It will argue that there were clichés, stereotypes, and prejudices that have shaped the discourse on serfdom. The sources leave us no doubt that the labels and emotions around serfdom were very important to the authorities, the nobility and later to the public commentators who opined on the issue. Serfdom did not live up to the ideals expressed by the Swedish authorities, and a critical discussion of serfdom started much earlier than the mid-eighteenth century process of peasant emancipation. However, there were always both practical and ideological considerations around serfdom and Stockholm’s policy did not change throughout the 17th and 18th century when it came to restricting peasants‘ free movement or using serf labour in manor fields.     

基于干旱脆弱性的农户系统体制转换及其影响机制——以榆中县中连川乡为例

通过问卷调查和半结构式访谈获取数据,基于社会-生态系统多体制视角,对农户系统体制及状态进行辨识,并构建农户对干旱的脆弱性指数对其进行评价;采用多元logistic模型识别农户系统体制转换影响因素,并从客观动因、主观动因和决定动因三方面,探讨农户系统体制转换的影响机制。研究表明:①研究区农户系统体制从传统农业体制,向新型农业体制和非农型体制转换。农户由于自身转化力不同,转换结果存在差异。②自然环境和社会经济发展驱动系统体制发生转换,农户期望(教育支出和家庭责任)决定转换方向,农户转变生计方式的能力(行为认知、劳动力比重和社会网络)决定转换程度,在其作用下,农户体制和状态出现差异并最终导致脆弱性分异。     

The global countryside: peasant women negotiating,recalibrating and resisting rural change in Colombia

This article utilises a gender lens to consider the notion of the ‘global countryside’ through a case study with four peasant Colombian women living in the mountain town of Toca, Boyacá. In seeking a bottom-up understanding of rural globalisation, as it is experienced in the everyday lives of peasant women in Colombia, we drew on a methodology that included participant observation and photo elicitation interviews. Data reveal the inflections and incursions of the global into women’s work and family lives, in particular, gendered implications of the emergence of a globalised countryside. At the same time, the results demonstrate women’s agency in recalibrating and resisting discourses of globalisation as they create places and strategies for subsistence based on peasant values and economic strategies. Finally, based on our results, we problematise the universalising tendencies of urban/Western feminist critiques of rural women’s lives which have been embedded in assumptions about modernity, development and liberalism.     

战国秦汉城市人口结构初探--以农民问题为中心

伴随着中国古代城市的发展,城内居民的构成也在不断地发生变化。城最初是军事防御的城堡,居民以农人为主。随着经济的发展和市场的兴盛,春秋战国时的城市居民主要被划分为士、农、工、商四类,但农民一直都是主体。两汉时仍然延续着战国的传统,但在交换经济和土地兼并的破坏下,大量农民丧失了土地,沦为流民或大土地所有者的依附民,城内农业人口的数量不断趋于下降,但短期内还不会完全被排挤在城墙之外。