In anthropological literature, peasant societies have been said to contrast tribal societies. The two are seen as two different types of societies. Tribes have a definitive structural system. They are small in scale; spatial and temporal ranges of the social, legal and political relations. On the other hand, peasant societies are seen as a part society with a part culture. Peasants are defined as small agricultural producers who with the help of simple tools and the labour of their families, produce mainly for their own consumption through the cultivation of land and for the fulfilment of obligations to the holders of political and economic power says Shanin (1973).
Tribal and peasant societies overlapped; tribal society goes down, peasant society goes up. People in peasant societies were somewhat more free and were able to tend their own crops but to have their own lands they still had whims of the landlord, traders and social
…show more content…
Peasant mentality can still continue to affect the society even after it no longer remains a peasant society for example in Malta people feel safer following a patron and they are willing to vote in a way their patron would deem ‘fit’ even though we are not a peasant society.
Some defining characteristics of a peasant society are that surplus is taken away from them by outside forces such as the state and landlords. Power is taken away from peasants and not by the royal family, in reality it’s the outsiders who are in control. Peasants were forced to work on the land and that’s how ancient empires were built due to the labour force of the poor and their man power. What happened is that formed independent tribes were destroyed and they were forced to work for the state to maintain the lifestyle present at the