Words speak louder than actions: The ‘peasant’ dimension of the Confédération Paysanne’s alternative to industrial farming

Edouard Morena

doi:10.1080/03066150.2014.969716

Words speak louder than actions: The ‘peasant’ dimension of the Confédération Paysanne’s alternative to industrial farming

Edouard Morena

French

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Through its historical account of the Confédération Paysanne (CP)'s origins and early years (France), this paper explores the ways in which ‘peasant’ discourses are shaped by non-peasant understandings of what ‘being a peasant’ should mean. As we shall see, far from reflecting an innate and immutable ‘peasant’ way of being or seeing, references to ‘peasantness’ and ‘peasant farming’ act as discursive tools to both unite a heterogeneous activist base (composed of marginal and marginalized farmers) and advance organizational interests. This requires the CP – and its predecessors – to respond to a series of external constraints. In the course of this paper, we shall also show how academics play an important mediating role in the process of constructing or adapting the CP's ‘peasant’ discourse.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	45-71
Number of pages	27
Journal	JOURNAL OF PEASANT STUDIES
Volume	42
Issue number	1
Early online date	10 Dec 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2014.969716
Publication status	Published - 2015

Keywords

peasantry
Confederation paysanne
France
agriculture
farming
agrarian change
agrarian studies
peasant studies
peasant identity

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10.1080/03066150.2014.969716

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title = "Words speak louder than actions: The {\textquoteleft}peasant{\textquoteright} dimension of the Conf{\'e}d{\'e}ration Paysanne{\textquoteright}s alternative to industrial farming",

abstract = "Through its historical account of the Conf{\'e}d{\'e}ration Paysanne (CP)'s origins and early years (France), this paper explores the ways in which {\textquoteleft}peasant{\textquoteright} discourses are shaped by non-peasant understandings of what {\textquoteleft}being a peasant{\textquoteright} should mean. As we shall see, far from reflecting an innate and immutable {\textquoteleft}peasant{\textquoteright} way of being or seeing, references to {\textquoteleft}peasantness{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}peasant farming{\textquoteright} act as discursive tools to both unite a heterogeneous activist base (composed of marginal and marginalized farmers) and advance organizational interests. This requires the CP – and its predecessors – to respond to a series of external constraints. In the course of this paper, we shall also show how academics play an important mediating role in the process of constructing or adapting the CP's {\textquoteleft}peasant{\textquoteright} discourse.",

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KW - peasantry

KW - Confederation paysanne

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KW - agriculture

KW - farming

KW - agrarian change

KW - agrarian studies

KW - peasant studies

KW - peasant identity

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Words speak louder than actions: The ‘peasant’ dimension of the Confédération Paysanne’s alternative to industrial farming

Abstract

Keywords

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