The Laissez-Faire Peasant
In rural development studies there are two mainstream assumptions. One holds that peasants are the victims of state rural development schemes, the other that only planning can ensure change and prosperity in rural regions. It is rarely considered that peasants are architects of their own and local w...
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| Format: | Online |
| Język: | angielski |
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UCL Press
2025
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| Hasła przedmiotowe: | |
| Dostęp online: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98624 |
| Etykiety: |
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| _version_ | 1869513870100398080 |
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| author | Diković, Jovana |
| author_browse | Diković, Jovana |
| author_facet | Diković, Jovana |
| author_sort | Diković, Jovana |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In rural development studies there are two mainstream assumptions. One holds that peasants are the victims of state rural development schemes, the other that only planning can ensure change and prosperity in rural regions. It is rarely considered that peasants are architects of their own and local wellbeing – notions which are often in opposition to state plans for agriculture.
The Laissez-Faire Peasant explores how rural development emerges on the ground. The concept involves the manifestation of peasant worldviews in which autonomy in decision-making, freedom of action, spontaneity, and flexibility in everyday cooperation play a dominant role. A role in which individual and local values generate a self-regulating system that manages a range of economic, social, and political relationships. The book examines manifestations of peasant autonomy, both in response to and independent of state rural development policies through a multi-sited ethnography of three Serbian villages. It is shown how these factors impede state programs for rural development while enabling the spontaneous flourishing of local communities. By focusing on the agency of rural residents, the book finds that peasants are resilient and competent agents who do not need government plans to thrive.
Praise for The Laissez-Faire Peasant
‘Anthropologists and missionaries claim to love their peasants. Economists and planners claim to help them. Both look down. Diković brilliantly proposes a new approach, which might be called “humanomics’’. It gives respect, looking up from where people actually live.’
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago
‘This is an ethnographically rich and conceptually original study of post-socialist peasantry and rural development in Serbia. Jovana Diković draws a complex picture of the post-socialist peasants as autonomous and resilient subjects motivated by the visions of rural development anchored in their local lifeworlds.’
Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi, University of Fribourg
‘In her excellent study Jovana Diković challanges the narrative about Serbian peasants usually viewed as downtrodden and exploited underdogs in need of governmental help. In this careful case study, these peasants represent an entrepreneurial, self -reliant and individualistic social group that can survive and thrive even in the conditions of modern and technologically advanced capitalism.’
Ivan Janković, Institut auf dem Rosenberg |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-152099 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | UCL Press |
| publisherStr | UCL Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1520992025-07-21T15:44:47Z The Laissez-Faire Peasant Diković, Jovana Peasantry;laissez-faire;rural development;post-socialist village;farming;peasant ethics;village ethics;peasants autonomy;endogenous development;peasants;Serbia;post-socialist;peasant autonomy;resilience;state schemes;agricultural plans;ethnography;local communities;working classes;struggling classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics In rural development studies there are two mainstream assumptions. One holds that peasants are the victims of state rural development schemes, the other that only planning can ensure change and prosperity in rural regions. It is rarely considered that peasants are architects of their own and local wellbeing – notions which are often in opposition to state plans for agriculture. The Laissez-Faire Peasant explores how rural development emerges on the ground. The concept involves the manifestation of peasant worldviews in which autonomy in decision-making, freedom of action, spontaneity, and flexibility in everyday cooperation play a dominant role. A role in which individual and local values generate a self-regulating system that manages a range of economic, social, and political relationships. The book examines manifestations of peasant autonomy, both in response to and independent of state rural development policies through a multi-sited ethnography of three Serbian villages. It is shown how these factors impede state programs for rural development while enabling the spontaneous flourishing of local communities. By focusing on the agency of rural residents, the book finds that peasants are resilient and competent agents who do not need government plans to thrive. Praise for The Laissez-Faire Peasant ‘Anthropologists and missionaries claim to love their peasants. Economists and planners claim to help them. Both look down. Diković brilliantly proposes a new approach, which might be called “humanomics’’. It gives respect, looking up from where people actually live.’ Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago ‘This is an ethnographically rich and conceptually original study of post-socialist peasantry and rural development in Serbia. Jovana Diković draws a complex picture of the post-socialist peasants as autonomous and resilient subjects motivated by the visions of rural development anchored in their local lifeworlds.’ Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi, University of Fribourg ‘In her excellent study Jovana Diković challanges the narrative about Serbian peasants usually viewed as downtrodden and exploited underdogs in need of governmental help. In this careful case study, these peasants represent an entrepreneurial, self -reliant and individualistic social group that can survive and thrive even in the conditions of modern and technologically advanced capitalism.’ Ivan Janković, Institut auf dem Rosenberg 2025-02-17T06:16:32Z 2025-02-17T06:16:32Z 2025-02-13T14:22:33Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98624 9781800087590 9781800087620 9781800087644 9781800083035 9781800087675 9781800087972 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/152099 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/98624/1/9781800087637.pdf UCL Press 10.14324/111.9781800087637 10.14324/111.9781800087637 29b9f0a3-1b0d-4bdd-99d7-b4d3432d7fcc 9781800087590 9781800087620 9781800087644 9781800083035 9781800087675 9781800087972 258 London open access |
| spellingShingle | Peasantry;laissez-faire;rural development;post-socialist village;farming;peasant ethics;village ethics;peasants autonomy;endogenous development;peasants;Serbia;post-socialist;peasant autonomy;resilience;state schemes;agricultural plans;ethnography;local communities;working classes;struggling classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics Diković, Jovana The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title | The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title_full | The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title_fullStr | The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title_short | The Laissez-Faire Peasant |
| title_sort | laissez faire peasant |
| topic | Peasantry;laissez-faire;rural development;post-socialist village;farming;peasant ethics;village ethics;peasants autonomy;endogenous development;peasants;Serbia;post-socialist;peasant autonomy;resilience;state schemes;agricultural plans;ethnography;local communities;working classes;struggling classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics |
| topic_facet | Peasantry;laissez-faire;rural development;post-socialist village;farming;peasant ethics;village ethics;peasants autonomy;endogenous development;peasants;Serbia;post-socialist;peasant autonomy;resilience;state schemes;agricultural plans;ethnography;local communities;working classes;struggling classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSC Rural communities thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCV Economics of specific sectors::KCVD Agricultural and rural economics |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98624 |
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