Heritage and Patrimony of the Peasantry: an analytical framework to address rural development

Abstract

The term “rural development” is exceptionally multifaceted, which makes it difficult to define. This and other features make it a ‘wicked problem’, which means the consequences of ruraldevelopmental problems can create other complications. To date, the important discussion of rural development has dealt with productivity and economic concerns. This discussion has many crucial aspects such as the environment, infrastructure, and respect for fundamental rights. This paper describes the ‘Heritage and Patrimony of the Peasantry’ as an alternative analytical framework for addressing rural development. This analytical framework takes important topics from other rural development perspectives (primarily focused on food sovereignty principles). The heritage and patrimony of the peasantry framework moves away from the market point of view, which converts everything into an asset that can be marketed, and utilizes other sources of heritage. The peasantry has seven kinds of ‘heritages’ or ‘patrimonies’: natural, cultural, economic, physical, social, institutional, and human. These heritages or patrimonies are the bases of construction for a decent standard of living which will accomplish full rights for all rural inhabitants, i.e. rural development.