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Peasants - Typically agricultural people who share the same general cultural tradition as members of the larger and more technologically complex societies in which they live. Found in India, China, Latin America, etc.
Perceptions of peasants
- Poor
- Little education (formal)
- Manual labour jobs
- Under-developed
- Live in country "slums"
- Limited access to healthcare- poor health
- Closed group
- Low skills
- Untrustworthy
- Hindrance- development barriers
- Family orientated
- Nomadic
- Incestuous
- Backward
Peasants as an open and closed system
Open and Closed system- the level of integration into industrialised society.
Closed System
- Own peasant society provides solidarity
- There exists a them/us dichotomy (division)- fear of prejudice, racism etc.
- Sense of affinity (they feel attached to their own group)
- They all live together
- Separated from wider society
- They trade with each other
- They have their own peasant/tribal dialect; this creates a sense of solidarity
- Geographically- they are a sub-group in a city and live in isolated areas and are thus geographically distant from "normal society".
- They are "closed" due to exploitation (social and economic)
- Peasants are often exploited and dominated by middle men who work between them and the larger organisations.
Open System
- They trade with outside communities, such as larger communities and organisations.
- They are bi/tri lingual
- They migrate to the city due to a lack of money and skills
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