[permaculture] [Fwd: Re: semantics, re "peasants"]

Lawrence F. London, Jr. lflj at intrex.net
Thu Jan 8 11:47:43 EST 2009


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: semantics, re "peasants"
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:44:33 -0500
From: Lawrence F. London, Jr. <lflj at intrex.net>
Organization: Venaura Farm
To: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group <SANET-MG at LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>

=http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0901&L=sanet-mg&T=0&O=D&P=26546
=SANET-MG Archives -- January 2009 (#38)
=Subject:	 Re: semantics, re "peasants"
=From:	Jennifer Chesworth <[log in to unmask]>
=Reply-To:	Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask]
=Date:	Thu, 8 Jan 2009 08:52:35 -0500

=Hello,

=It's fine for us to
=poke fun at ourselves.  My response to a European aid worker in an Asian country using the word "peasant" was
=about the language of development.

Good point. Choose a term in local use that signifies skill, perseverance and dignity. What Korean word would that be?
Korean farming and gardening methods using natural methods and materials are some of the best and most interesting
in the world along with Japanese, American traditional organic/sustainable, European biointensive, Andean, Hunza,
raised bed farming in the Middle East, Asian terrace farming, and many other prime examples scattered over the globe.

=She and I were not talking about
=American farmers and frankly, American farmers do not fall in the same category as people receiving the type of
=development aid her German
=group is handing out in Korea (the people who cannot afford a computer and time to blog about their modern peasant
=lives).  The term "peasant" is not used by just the nouveau rich, it is generally the European translation for "small
=farmer," by Germans and the Dutch and others who learn Oxford English as a second language.  My point is that in

There must be an equivalent word in Korean that would be acceptable to the group she is working with,
a term that would stimulate enthusiasm, get the creative juices flowing (like the term "permaculture" does),
make them feel proud of their economic status (rural agronomic specialists) and help them pull themselves up by their
bootstraps. They will surely become true Korean Permaculturists because of the challenges they face and by the time they
have achieved their goal of self sufficiency and increased economic independence.

=American English, "peasant" is a derogatory term.  There are no American peasants, we do not use that word except in a
=historical context or as a joke, so in American English to call modern rural poor farmers "peasants" in any developing
=country is derogatory, poking fun at their lot --

That is a long story. Its partly about the ugly way the farming and rural classes have been treated for centuries
and the lack of respect that has been given to people who work the land naturally and sustainably, regardless of
economic hardship as they try to survive in environmentally and economically difficult areas of the US (Appalachia, for
example and the drive to harvest farm familes to work in city factories thus effectively ending their homestead/farm
claim and healthy rural lifestyle).

=and, after all, the SANET list is an American list, at least last time I checked SARE was an American national
=program, though the international membership of the list is a wonderful asset to these discussions.  I do not believe
=the British themselves call their own rural farmers "peasants," though perhaps one of our British saneters can fill us
=in on that.

Peasant is just not a British thing; I expect they use some other term implying dignity, value and skill. The British
were part and parcel of the emerging organic movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their work merged with that of
French, German, Austrian and Swiss exponents. Some of the most important books I have in my collection were written by
authors in each of those countries, though fewer were translated from the German. FH King, Sir Albert Howard, Lady Eve
Balfour, Alan Chadwick, Aquatias, Vilmorin-Andrieux, Steiner, Pfeiffer are part of a long list of authors who
contributed works of timeless value.

Read these people and then just take a quick look at modern global chemical/gmo farming and you will turn on a dime
and walk away shaking your head in disbelief.

=At any rate, one could say it's purely semantic, but to me, language is important.  I'd rather see the world look
=forward rather than backward.

That's a great place to start.

=Even though the current economic crisis is toppling some wealthy people, the division between rich and poor is still
=pretty much an exponentially widening gap.  I don't particularly want to see the solution turn out to be the toppling

We can turn that around. Be creative and persevere. Sal Schettino and many other farmers in this list are good examples
of putting that to work.

=of people.  I'd rather we use empathy, that means being able to imagine putting yourself in the other guy's shoes.
=That is made more difficult if we revert to feudal concepts.
=Peace, Jennifer

That is probably the first step, empathy, also absorbing their condition and surroundings through their eyes and
experiences. Use the permaculture method of careful observation and analysis and from that derive careful system design.
Rather than worrying about reverting to feudal concepts just use terms that are enlightening and empowering.





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