Peasant Differentiation under the Agrarian Structural Transformation, 1980-2005
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Tsai, Pei-Hui
Abstract
This study explores the peasants’ differentiation during 1980-2005 in Taiwan both qualitatively and quantitatively. On one hand, through examining the structural factors of agricultural policies, including international political-economic environments, state, markets, agricultural institutions, farmers’ organization, and individual peasant, this study sheds lights on the dynamic processes and the mechanisms of peasants’ differentiation in theoretical senses. On the other hand, this study also empirically assesses the profiles of peasants’ differentiation in 1990, 2000, and 2005, respectively, to reflect the outcome of peasants’ differentiation in recent two decades. iving the severe pressure of the trade between countries on the state, the external influences dominantly affect and continuously shape the agriculture policy of Taiwan in the past two decades. Since early 1980s, USA has continuously given strong pressures on Taiwan to restrain the exportation of rice and open the market of crops. In 1993, when the Uruguay Round Negotiations affirmed the regulatory framework of “Agreement on Agriculture,” Taiwan was forced to transform its agriculture policy to liberation economy from planned economy in order to meet the restriction from international agreement. Within the nation boundary, the regulation and agricultural product market had become the competitive environment faced by the trade countries, including Taiwan. Peasants in Taiwan thus are influenced by the dual structures. Not only do peasants subjectively make decisions based on their own local production resources, but also their production patterns were constrained by the outside structures of different levels.hapter 4 explores the dominant effect of the external factors from the historical perspective and illustrates how the nation acts as the mediation role between internal and external reallocated relationship. Basically, the interaction of the relationship determines the entire dynamics of peasant differentiation and identifies the salient mechanisms of peasants’ differentiation. Chapter 5 then empirically analyzes the distribution of peasants at year 1990, 2000, and 2005 to show the actual dynamics of peasants’ differentiation by examining the changes in the distribution of peasants through using three agriculture census data sets. hile transforming from small agrarian economy regarding production-based relationship to commoditized production regarding market-based circulation, Taiwanese peasants had differentiated to some distinctive types of production in which were affected by the production resources they had controlled on one hand and were also influenced by their connections to the agricultural product markets on the other hand. n sum, this study found that the characteristics of peasant in terms of types and experiences in Taiwan are significantly different from those of Russian peasants that Lenin and Chayanov have studied. Surprisingly, peasants did not dissolve in the past transitions in Taiwan, nor will they be stationary with the satisfaction of current family economy. Simultaneously, they will not be expected to become unlimitedly capitalist farmers as they are differentiating because they will be continuously constrained by the various production structures from global environment to local farmers’ organization in the future.
Subjects
Peasant
Peasant Differentiation
Agreement on Agriculture
Neoliberalism
Agrarian Structural Transformation
Taiwan Agriculture
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