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How Exactly Are Peasants “Exploited”?
Author(s) -
DALTON GEORGE
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1974.76.3.02a00030
Subject(s) - peasant , sociology , word (group theory) , political economy , epistemology , history , aesthetics , political science , law , linguistics , philosophy
We are very frequently told that peasants are exploited without being told what exactly this means, whether peasant exploitation is confined to peasants, or whether the word exploitation is meant to convey different meanings for different societies. This paper discusses two meanings of exploitation, neither of which relates uniquely to peasantry, and poses specific questions about “exploitation” and “surplus,” the answers to which would tell us a good deal about what is meant by the exploitation of peasantry.