Peasants: Society and Rebellion
Jeff Hornibrook
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Peasants: Society and Rebellion
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His 354: Peasants: Society and Rebellion
This course is designed as a comparative study of the history of peasants in the developing world. Rather than focusing on the history of a single peasant society, this course will present an overview of the problems and issues that are common to peasant societies worldwide. To that end, we will examine the social and family systems of peasants paying particular attention to their strategies of survival and interaction within the family and between the family and other institutions such as the village, the market, and governments. Then we will discuss pre-modern forms of rebellion and modern guerrilla warfare. Finally, we will study the impact of modern governments and the pressures of the present economic and political world order on peasant societies.
The course readings provide individual pictures of specific peasant societies while expanding our understanding of peasant life in general over time. Perry’s study of China begins with a discussion of peasant forms of survival and then, along with Vlastos’ book on Japan, examines pre-modern forms of resistance including banditry, smuggling and food riots. Lan describes how pre-modern forms of resistance in Zimbabwe were incorporated into modern guerrilla movements while Guevara portrays guerrilla tactics as they were used in Cuba in very modern terms. Finally, the book edited by Bryceson, Kay and Mooij will take on overview of issues facing peasants in the present day.
Throughout this course we will want to examine several issues found in the literature: the presence of various types of peasants--or “peasantries”—in a single society; the impact of the market and the modernizing world; the power (and, at times, lack thereof) of landlords and the state; and peasant strategies for survival and their role in bringing about revolution.
Class:
M: 7:00-9:30 pm;
Yokum Hall, #201
Instructor:
Jeff Hornibrook
Office: CVH #225
Office Hours: MWF 9-9:50, MW 1:00-1:50
Telephone: Office 564-5215; Home 562-2966
E-Mail: Jeff.Hornibrook@Plattsburgh.edu
Texts:
Perry, Elizabeth Rebels and Revolutionaries in North
China
Vlastos, Stephen Peasant Protests and Uprisings in
Tokugawa
Lan, David Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums
in Zimbabwe
Guevara, Che Guerrilla Warfare
Bryceson, Deborah, Cristobal Kay and Jos Mooij eds. Disappearing
Peasantries? Rural Labour in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Suggested Reading (All papers in this class should
follow this format):
Rampolla, Mary Lynn, A Pocket Guide to Writing in
History
Grading:
In-Class Work: 5%
Library/Media Assign 10
2 Short Papers 25
2 Exam Papers 25
1 Research Paper
35
Total 100%
Student
Obligations:
This is a reading and discussion-based
course and so everyone is responsible for participating in the classroom.
To do this, students must complete the assigned readings, attend all
lectures, and hand in all written assignments on time.
All assignments must be handed in to receive credit for the course.
You are encouraged to ask questions when information is unclear.
Late work will be docked at least ½ a letter grade.
If work is more than one week late it will be docked a full grade for
each week that it is late.
Because plagiarism is becoming an increasingly difficult problem you are
warned that for any act of plagiarism in this class the paper will receive an E.
There are no make-ups for this. For
more information regarding plagiarism you might want to look at the History
Department’s handout.
Assignments:
In-Class Participation: Every student is responsible for the
information provided in the classroom and is encouraged to discuss and ask
questions. I will take attendance
in an ad-hoc basis and so your grade will be affected by your attendance in the
class.
Library/Media Assignment: You will be required to use several
library devices as well as the Internet to look up bibliographical listings on a
topic of your choice. This will help you to put together a set of readings for your
term paper due at the end of the semester.
You will also be asked to put together a preliminary outline of your
paper three weeks before it is due.
Short Paper Assignments: You will do two thought pieces—papers
that discuss issues found in the readings from this class—on the topics of
your choice with consultation from the instructor.
For these papers, you will give brief abstracts of the most important
readings that examine the issue you have chosen and then discuss issues using
any and all readings and class discussions from this course.
These papers should be 4-7 pages long.
Exam Papers: You will do two papers based upon questions given by
the instructor. These papers will
be similar to the Short Paper Assignments except that they will be based upon
questions provided by the instructor. These
papers may also require use of sources provided specifically for the exams.
Term Paper: Each student will write a term paper on the issue of
their choice with consultation from the instructor.
You will be asked to use materials from this class as well as outside
sources. This paper should be 10-12
pages long.
Lecture
Schedule and Reading List
(Other
Readings Will Be Provided in Class)
8/30-9/3: Introduction: Historiography of Peasants and Peasant Studies
9/6-9/9: Family Organization and Gender Roles
Perry: chpt. 1
9/13-9/17: Family Organization and Gender Roles pt. II
9/20-9/24: Peasant Economic Strategies
9/22: Turn in Library Assignment
Vlastos: chpt. 1
9/27-10/1: Peasants of the 18th through 20th Centuries: Why do Peasants Rebel?
Perry: chpt. 2
Vlastos: chpt. 2
10/4-10/8: Peasants of the 18th through 20th Centuries: How do Peasants Rebel?
10/4: Turn in Short Paper #1
Perry: chpt 3
Vlastos: chpts. 3-4
10/13-10/15: Peasants of the 18th through 20th Centuries: Social and Non-Social Bandits
Perry: chpts. 4-5
10/18-10/22: Peasants of the 18th through 20th Centuries: Food Riots and Millenarian Movements
Vlastos: chpts. 6-8
10/25-10/29: 1930s to the Present: Pre-Modern Rebels and Contact with Modern Guerrillas
10/25: Turn in Exam #1
Perry: chpts. 6-7
Lan: chpts. 1-6
11/1-11/5: 1930s to the Present: Guerrillas and Collaboration with pre-Modern rebels
Lan: chpts. 7-10
Guevara, chpts. 1-2
11/8-11/12: 1930s to the Present: Guerrilla Victories and Defeats
Guevara: chpt. 3
Lan: chpt. 11
11/15-11/19: 1930s to the Present: Marxist and Non-Marxist Governments: What Kind of Revolution?
11/15: Turn in Short Paper #2
Lan: chpt. 12, Conclusion
Potter and Potter: chpts. 1-4
11/22: 1930s to the Present: The Revolutionaries Reorganize Peasant Society
(No classes the Remainder of the Week)
Potter and Potter: chpts. 5-7
11/29-12/3: 1930s to the Present: The Peasants Reorganize the Revolutionaries
11/29: Turn in Abstracts of your Term papers
Potter and Potter: chpts. 5-7
12/6-12/10: Where do we go from Here?
12/6: Turn in Exam #2
12/13 Finals Week
HIS
354
Outlines for
Thought Pieces
You are required to do two thought pieces for this class. These papers will allow you to examine the readings from class and should also help you to begin to think about issues you will discuss for your final research paper. These papers should be 4-7 pages long and should be in formal written form with citations where they are needed: ex. (Perry, p. 35).
Thought pieces allow you to choose a topic that
interests you. You should select
issues that you can answer using only the sources from the class.
The following is an outline that you should follow
for your thought pieces.
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First,
begin your paper with an introduction paragraph that states the question or
questions you plan to address. Tell
the reader what you are going to discuss and the historical context of the
question (i.e. you may wish to state when and where exactly the events took
place that you are examining and the forces behind these events.)
Briefly indicate the debate(s) that are part of your discussion.
Second,
write strong/clear paragraphs describing three class-based sources. Begin each
paragraph with a thesis sentence (“Wolf, in her discussion of mothers in the
villages of Taiwan, argues that…”). Then
provide detail to describe the information the author uses and the arguments
he/she makes. You should try to
point to those issues discussed by the authors that directly address one
another. So while one author may
discuss an issue in a particular chapter, you may have to look to several
sections in a book or article to find the second author’s argument.
Furthermore, it is often useful to delineate a series of issues that are
found in each source and present them in parallel fashion in discussion of each
source (Wolf argues that daughters did X, mothers did X, and grandmothers did X.
At the same time, the movie “Raise the Red Lantern” shows that
daughters did Y, and mothers did X and Y and says little about grandmothers at
all.)
Third,
write a series of paragraphs that examine the issues you have chosen.
Use the sources you have described above to make your argument.
(For example, it is often a good idea to show two opposing opinions in
section 2 and then use a third source that confirms one or the other or shows
strengths/weaknesses of one or more of your sources.)
Fourth, write down your opinion about the issues you have examined. What do you think about the problems these people faced and how they tried to solve these problems? Are the actions of the people logical/illogical/repugnant to you?
This page last modified on 08/29/02.