The Breakdown of Provincial Urban Power Structure and the Rise of Peasant Movements*

Perspectives for the Historical Study of Rural Politics and the Colombian Case: An Overview

“…It pinpoints the origins of peasant unrest not in attributes of peasant society per se, but in the interaction between the peasant and those who exercise control over his life-the landlord, the state, etc." This perspective is cogently expressed in writings by William Whyte (1970), Ralph Della Cava (1970), Paul Friedrich (1970, Giorgio Alberti (1972), Elsie Keatinge (1973), John Wilson Lewis (1973), and Charles Tilly (1974. These scholars maintain that such an analysis, applied historically, is essential to the understanding of the outbreak of peasant violence, its significance for the larger society, and variation among movements in different times and places.…”

“…In this vein, a number of anthropologists associated with the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos propose an alternative view on the impact of modernization on the countryside, based on their investigations in twentieth-century Peru (Whyte, 1970 andAlberti, 1972; collaborators on related work include Jose Matos Mar and Julio Cotler). Opposing the concept of an absolute dichotomy between traditional and modern, they discard the notion that modernization produces the "breakdown" of traditional arrangements.…”

“…Emmanuel deKadt (1970), however, asserts that the extension of suffrage to rural areas as well as the peasants' option to choose between an increasing number of patrones has augmented peasant bargaining power in recent years and may contribute to a growing awareness of common interests. This perspective is shared by investigators working in Peru who show how in several areas of the Sierra, peasants used newly established ties with lawyers, mining syndicates, merchants, and government ministries to promote their desire for communal landownership against local hacendados (Hobsbawm, 1967b;Whyte, 1970;Alberti, 1972).…”

“…They seek to trace historically changes in subregional, socioeconomic structures and power relations attendant on the expansion of the market economy and national centralization and to examine the kinds of conflict generated out of such changes. Edward Dew's (1969)and Alberti's (1972)works on the Peruvian Sierra constitute examples of this approach.…”