peasantry

Peasantry is a social and economic category consisting mainly of rural households engaged in agricultural production. Traditionally, peasants were smallholders or tenant farmers who worked land owned by others, by the state, or collectively, and who produced food for subsistence and local markets within wider agrarian systems.

Across regions and eras, peasantry has meant different legal ties and degrees of freedom. In medieval Europe, many peasants were serfs bound to land with hereditary obligations; elsewhere peasants were free tenants, sharecroppers, or landless laborers. The unifying feature is dependence on land and customary rights.

Economically, peasants typically depend on agricultural output and may pay rents, dues, or taxes, sometimes in kind. Socially, they organize through village communities and kinship networks, with local disputes settled by customary norms. Political influence tended to be limited, focused on rural matters and local leadership.

Historical change reshaped peasantry through land reforms, enclosure, and the commercialization of agriculture, often accompanying industrialization. Some peasants became landholders, tenant farmers, or migrant workers; others remained smallholders dependent on markets and credit. In the 20th century many countries pursued land reform or collectivization, altering rural social structures.

In modern scholarship, peasantry is studied as a dynamic, diverse category that interacts with capitalism, state policy, and globalization. While many peasants retain agricultural livelihoods, others diversify economically, migrate, or participate in cooperatives. The concept remains debated in discussions of class, production relations, and rural development.