CHAPTER 1

Habitats in Human History

Modes of Production and Modes of Resource Use

the Marxist concept

M
ANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND
of modes of production useful when classifying societies
according to their technologies and rel3:tions of production.
Undoubtedly the original scheme, of primitive communism-slavery-
feudalism-capitalism, derived largely from the European experience,
has been modified by an increasing sophistication within the writing of
the histories of non-western cultures. Notwithstanding the problems
in applying European models of feudalism to societies such as India
and China, as well as the continuing debates around the so-called
Asiatic mode of production, the framework itself remains very much
in favour. It is strongest while delineating the features of the capitalist
mode of production. With the emergence of capitalism as a 'world
system', it is currently enjoying a revival in those far-flung corners of
the globe where the clash between pre-capitalist relations of produc-
tion and the capitalist ethos is only now gathering momentum.
Among several important criticisms made of the mode of produc-
tion scheme, we single out three. The first, made by Marxists themselves,
relates to the relative lack of emphasis in this scheme on political
st ructures and struggles. In his widely-noticed interventions in the
'transition' debate, Robert Brenner argued that the form and intensity
 10
.. nfuct rather than changes in prod uctio n techn ology
of poliacal co ' , lam
· the nature of the transition .. or f odes of resource use exten ds the realm of prod
. . de better exp fi T he conc ept o m . . uctio n
expansion m era . '. .cauna wate r and minerals. It asks very sunil .
to capitalism m
. different parts of Euro pe (Bre nner 19ro111 1.nclud e fl ora, 1, ' . . ar .ques tions .
feu dali sm 1 76 to
v.
-8) Othe r sc holars have suggested a supp emen tary conce With respect to r elations of prod uctio n, for exam ple, 1t mvestJ.gates the
Pt, . .
=-
;_-
and 19 1 · t;0 rrns o f prop er ty' man agem ent and cont rol, and of allocatJ.on and dis-
d f wer , to more ac curatelv, captu re the struc ture of pow
er _ . hich gove rn . .
'mo e o . po. '. .J:a: rent societies (Cha tterje e cnbu non, w the utiliz ation of natur al resou rces m diffe rent
and dorrunaoon m wue 1983). Seco nd, there . . d . .c
1 f h . • d histo rical peno ds. And with
.. . ·hi soc1enes an . respe ct to pro uctJ.ve 1orces,
are cnoe1sms \.\• ch ' while accepting the re evan ce o t e scheme to . . .
. li . 1 1t an alyses the varv ~r
ing techn olog ies of resou rce expl01tat:1 on, conv er-
European history, exp ress reservations abou t its app cano n e sewhere . . .
1 fi . .
s1on an d tr ansp ortat ion that char acten ze diffe rent social orde rs.
The European mo de1offeudalism does .
not, for exam p e, 1t the Indian .
. . . Whil e com plem entin g the mod e of prod ucoo
~- fram e:1or k, _the
expenence, an d the Asiatic mode 1s scarcely of any use either, since
- -d- de of resou rce use sche me inco rpora tes two
addi tiona l dime nsion s.
the state p1aye d by no means as impo rtant . a part m prov1 mg public ~o
. . flfst, 1·t exam ines whe ther one can iden tify chara cteri stic ideo lo-
works an d lfnga
· · 0·011 1.c.acilities for agnc ultur e as this not10
• n suggests _ . . .
Finally, there are the criticisms of non- Marx ists (an~ · gies that gove rn diffe rent mod es. Mor e impo
rtant ly, it ident1fies the
non-economists). ecolo ical impa ct of vario us mod es, and asses
These amount to the view that, what ever the men ses the cons eque nces of
ts of the mode of these ~iffe rent mod es for the patte rn, distr ibuti
production concept while explaining differenc~ on and availability of
s in _economic_ struc- natural resources.
ture, this concept is of little use when inter pretm
g differences m the Thre e caveats are in orde r here . First, the
religious, cultural and ideological attributes of diffe mod e of resou rce use
rent societies. conc ept, like the mod e of prod uctio n conc ept,
While all these criticisms are compelling, from is at bott om an 'idea l
the perspective type'. Henc e, the iden tifica tion of disti nct mod
of this book they do not go far enou gh. An ecolo es does not prec lude the
gical appro ach to existence of more than one mod e in any give
such questions suggests that the mod e of prod uctio n social (or, more accu -
n conc ept is not rately, socio -ecol ogica l) form ation . Still, it is usua
adequately materialistic in the first place. This lly poss ible to iden tify
may seem an ironic the dominant mod e with in a socio -eco logic al
accusation against a doctrine as supposedly materialis form ation . Seco nd, our
t as Marx ism, yet treat ment is large ly restr icted to hum an uses
a little reflection bears it out. Marxist analyses usual
ly begi n with the of living reso urce s-i.e .,
flora and faun a-bo th husb ande d and in their
economic 'infra struc ture' -the so-called relations
of prod uctio n and natu ral";tate. Tiiis fram e-
;-ork can of cour se be exte nded to inco rpor
productive force s-wi thou t investigating the ecolo
gical cont ext, i.e. ate othe r natu ral resou rces,
such as wate r and mine rals. Finally, one impo
the soil, water, animal, mineral and vegetative bases
of socie ty in whic h rtant respe ct in whic h
our sche me differs from the Marx ian mod
the infrastructure is embedded. As exemplified by
recen t polit ical and e of prod uctio n sche me
economic histories of mode rn India, both Marx is that the indu stria l mod e of resou rce use,
ist and non- Marx ist, as defin ed by us, inclu des
the most major lacuna in existing scholarship is both capitalist and socia list socie ties. Whi le
an inade quate appre - there are signi fican t dif-
ciation of the ecological infrastructure of hum an ferences betw een socialist and capit alist path
society. We there fore s of deve lopm ent- for
propose to complement the conc ept of modes of example with respe ct to prop erty and the role
prod uctio n with the of the mar ket- from an
concept of modes of resource use. ecological poin t of view the simil aritie s in
these two deve lopm enta l
While focusing on spheres of prod uctio n, such paths are · ·fi
as the field and more sigm 1eant t h an the diffe rence s. For insta nce, there
the factory, most analyses of modes of prod uctio structural simil ·u· · h are
n have igno red the an es m t e sea1e and direc - -
tion of natu ral resou rce
natural contexts in whic h the field and factory
are emb edde d-th e flows the tech n 0 1 ·
' .
f - -
contexts to which they respond, and whic h they ogies o resou rce expl0 1tat1 0n, the patte rns of ener gy
in turn transc- use, the ideo logie s f h .
torm . o uma n-na ture mter actio .
mana geme nt p . d .
n, the spec ific reso urce -
racti ces, an , ultim ately , the cum ulati ve impa
ct of all
,
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rnaY be considered as mothers, and totemic anim
a~telopes) as brethren; specific trees may be seen
als (like bears or
as inhabited by
17

f,.., dernons who need to be placated. Gatherers there

fore enter into
whole range of frequently positive relationships
with these other
'~eings' of their own locality. By the same toke
n, they have no rela-
tionship with plants, animals or landscape elem
ents outside their
own locality (Martin 1978; Macleod 1936).
Rest rain t-Re al and Apparent: At a more concrete
gies of nature worship _are buttressed by specific social
societies in the gathering mode towards the prud
rnany gatherer-shifting cultivator societies have
which regulate their behaviour towards other mem
level, these ideolo-
practices which orient
ent use of nature.Thus,
a variety of practices
bers of their com-
'
ii
\

rnunity of beings, and whic h seemingly contribut

e towards ensuring
the long -term sustainability of resource use (Gad
gil 1991; Gadgil and
Berkes 1991; McN eely and Pitt 1985; Rud dle and
Johannes 1985). ln
the cont ext of ecological debates on prudence
and profligacy, it is of
0 Human Habitation - Flows of Materials interest to examine these practices in order to assess
whether they could
Q be better explained in terms of harvesting for shor
Land either not cultivated or under shifting cultiva
tion t-ter m gain; and if not,
Figure 1.1 Material flows in hunter-gatherer society whe ther they coul d inde ed lead to an enha nced
availability of resources
In productive, stable envitonments, hunter-gatherer cum to the group as a who le in the long run. Thes
shifting-cultivators maintain e practices, studied by
well defined territories. Cycles of materials in such envir anthropologists and ethnobiologists, involve a
onments are largely closed variety of restrai~ts on
on the spatial scales of territori_es with flows of materials harvesting in term s of quantity, locality, season,
across territorial boundarie s and life-history stages.
being much less significant. The thickness of an arrow They also involve differential harvests by age, sex,
indicates the intensity of the or social class. It is, of
flow. course, possible that such appa rent restraint may
have noth ing to do with
a long -term cons erva tion of the resource base.
Ideology: To gath erers , with their limi ted know ledg A harvester interested
e base, natu re in calculating an imm edia te retu rn may still not
follows its own capr iciou s ways, hard ly subj use a resource if the
ect to hum an cont rol. net gain obta inab le from it is belo w a certa in
. Gath erer s typic ally rega rd hum ans as mere threshold, whic h in turn
ly part of a com mun ity wou ld depe nd on the net gain obta inab le from
of bein gs that inclu des othe r livin g creatures alternative resources .
, as well as elem ents of We mus t there fore exam ine each supp osed insta
the land scap e such as strea ms and rocks.•Espe nce of restraint to assess
cially whe re gath erers whe ther it coul d involve such a disc ontin uatio
are attac hed to part icula r loca lities , as in prod n of resource use. This
uctiv e and stable envi - may happ en, for insta nce, beca use the cost of
ronm ents like trop ical hum id forests, they harvest increases exces-
attri bute sacred qualities
to jndi vidu al trees, pond s or mou ntai n peak sively (Sm ith 1983; Borg erho ff Mul der 1988).
s, or to all mem bers
of a plan t or anim al species, such as Ficus The who le rang e of practices dem onst ratin
trees. The y often treat g the restrained use of
plan ts, anim als or elem ents of the land scap resources by hum an bein gs can be classified unde
e as _k in, or as bein g r ten broa d categories:
in relat ions hips of •e ithe r mutu alism or • A quan titat ive restr ictio n on the amo unt
anta gom sm. Thu s, rivers harv ested of a give n
species, or from a give n locality, by harvester
s. The impo sitio n of
 sue h q uotas implies that the .harve. st. is. halted at resource den .
19
.
tl e s great er than those at whic h md1v1duals woul d find th 51' This should be verified by a comparison with net
. . • .
ga ins roo low to contm ue harvestmg. As a corollary,. these que net . .
seasons, and 1f possible by a quantitative assessment.gams m other
.
are likely to enhance total yields over the long -term 0~
Certain stages of life-- by age, sex, size or reproductiv
, and at th . . e st t _
sacrifice of some imme diate retur n. Thes e are there may im~u ruze ~n arumal or bird from being harve a us
. fore likely e sted. For
be genuine instances of restramt. to example, m the village ofKokre-Bellur in the state
. . . . fK k
• Harvesting a certain resource may be aban done d
when resource birds m the breeding w1thm a heronary may be lefto arnata a,
unmolested
densities fall. In parts of New Guinea, for example, thoug h they may be hunte d elsewhere and at othe
the huntin '
ofBirds of Paradise is temp orari ly aban done d if their (Gadgil 19856). If such protected stages appear to be r seasons
population~ critical to
decline (Eaton 1985). This sort of response is expe population replenishment, and if they are likely to yield
cted from har- as high
vesters who are .attempting to . maximize a shor t-term or highe r net returns than the unprotected stages, it
net gain, is reasonable
since a fall in the resource density woul d progressiv to assume that this measure is designed spe'ci
ely increase fically to conserve
the costs of harvesting. It is possible, thou gh not the resource. On th~ other ha~d, if these stages are likely
very probable, to yield
that harvesting is aban done d well before this level lower net re~urns m comp anso n with the unpro
is reached in tected stages,
the inter est oflon g-ter m yields. then they rmgh t be left unharvested simply in the
interest of
maximizing the imm ediat e net gain.
• Harv estin g from a certain habitat patch may
be abandoned • Certain species may never be harvested either
if yields from that patch are reduced. Thus, in the because of the
Torres Strait, relative difficulty of procu ring them (risk of injury
fishing may be stopp ed in regions wher e fish yields during the
are known to hunt) or because they carry parasites that can affect
have decli ned (Niet schm ann 1985).This again is a respo humans. If
nse which these conditions do not operate, conservation can
is to be expe cted from a forager who is attempting indeed serve
to maximize the long -term interest of huma n resource use: if the
imm ediat e net returns. It can be related to long -term species thus
resource protected enhances the availability of some other specie
conservation only if concrete quantitative evidence s that are
is available to harvested. This is likely for a widely protected specie
indicate that harvesting is aban done d in advance s, such as trees
of the returns belonging to the genus Ficus, but much less likely for
reach ing a value low enou gh to justify abandoning a wide variety
harvests. of species prote cted as totem ic by certain tribes (Gad
Harv estin g from a certa in species may be aban gil 1989).
done d in • Certa in habit at patch es may eithe r never be
a certa in season. Illustrative here is the taboo, in harvested, or be
many Indian subject to very low levels of harvest throu gh strict
villages, on hunt ing certa in animals betw een July regulation. It
and Octo ber is extre mely difficult to arrive at work able prescriptio
(Gadgil 1985a). Possibly this taboo is a consequen ns on quan -
ce of returns .titative quota s, close d seasons, or prote cted life-history
whic h are too low to justif y harvesting for imme stages that
diate gains in decisively guar d against resou rce decim ation . Prov
that season. Conversely, if in fact net returns in iding refugia
.that season are
expe cted to be relatively high, this is likely to be (sacred groves, sacre d pond s, etc.) may then be
a conservation the most easily
meas ure . perceived and most effic ient way of guard ing again
st resource
• Harv estin g from a certa in habit at patch may deple tion (Gad gil and Vartak 1976).
be abandoned in
a certa in season. Again, this could be a response • Certa in meth ods of resou rce harve st may be
to an exces- whol ly proh ibite d
sively low level of net gain from that habit at patch or strict ly regu lated . Thus , fishin g by poiso ning
in that season. river pools is
severely regu lated by tradi tion in many parts of
19 India (Gadgil
85a) • If these meth ods are likel y to prov ide as high,
or highe r,
20
h
y wo uld by no means ensure arvests at maxi mum
methods, their r~gulation may al tho ugh the· ld J 1 In his . classic exp .
net returns than the per mit ted , tainable yie eve s. enm ent s on pre d
resource conservatwn. suS . . Y-pre ator
serve the interest of lon g-t erm ~r? m des of pro toz oan s, Gause showed that prey extmction c ld b e
social groups may be ban ne~ .d d p . ou
• Cer tain age / sex categories or g
cy
ffectively av0. 1 e onl y by pro
vid ing the
rey a refugm an area
vesting me tho ds, or fro ~ utilizin d m,
em plo yin g certain sorts of har me a adu lt
e
of the exp eri me nta l arena. .ina
ccessible to th
e pre ator where the
s. Th us in Ne w Gu .
cer tain species or habitat patche s ld ma mta· · a mm ima l population and fi
m rom which other
g rodents (Ra ppa por t 1984). Thi Prey cou -b .
males are ban ned from hun tin 1 . d d
it (Gause 1969) . Sacre groves sacred
g-t erm resource con ser vat ion
by areas could e co om ze by . .
cou ld con trib ute towards lon ich ll fi h. . pro'hib
of harvest. It cou ld also assist
in ond s, and stre tc h es of sea .coast from wh a is mg is ited
mo der atin g the total am oun t P h refugia . Mo der n eco lo · 1 h
res tric ting the access to a lim ited are examples o f sue • . gica t eory also stresses
lon g-t erm con ser vat ion by . . f
o cer tam spe cies wh ich serv e k
as eystone resources
y mo re readily com e to use the the sig mfi can ce . .
num ber of individuals wh o ma . . k . .
g the ove rall fun t. · f
It is, of course, qui te possible
that or mo bile lm s m ma mta mm c 10 rung o the com . -
res our ce in, a pru den t fashion. t rgh 1986). Th e tree of the gen us icu s-to which
p·
seg me nts of the com mu nit y tha mu nity (Te rbo
suc h res tric tion s me rel y ben efit . and peepal (wid e1Y protecte d m .
Asia
.
hou t really ser vin g the inte res
t of bel ong species. suc h as banyan .
are in pos itio ns of pow er, wit .
suc h keystone resource · Co nte mporary eco1ogi-
and Af nc a)- is one
lon g-t erm con ser vat ion . . tain stages m · ·
cal the ory also pom ts to. the fact tha t cer a popu1atlon
•
. , m · ·5
are of• hig her rep rod uct ive val ue' ' and therec11ore ore sigm icant 10
·
tio n gro wth · Pregnant d oes and nestmg
• •
Simple Rules of Thumb per mi ttm g con tm ued pop ula 1958·
prescrip- humans, are such stages (Fisher
log ica l com mu nit ies , pre cis e birds, again oft en pro tec ted by
Giv en the com ple xit y of eco De tail ed ent wo rk on the evolution
of co~
pru den t use of liv ing res our ces are difficult. Slo bod kin , 196 8). Fin ally, rec more
tion s for the
sen t state s tha t restraint is progressively
m imp oss ible , giv en the pre ~perative beh avi ~ur emphasize
qua ntit ativ e pre scr ipt ion s see ent ire prey of individuals involved in repeate
d
Th is is par ticu lar ly so if the like_ly ~o evol~e if the num ber
of kno wle dge (Cl ark 198 5). ssively smaller Qoshi 1987; Fel
dman
jec t to bei ng har ves ted . Bu
t cer tain social mte rac t1o ns gets progre
pop ula tio n is con tin ual ly sub Ke nce 1987) .
rt a res our ce col lap se see m
easy to for- and Th om as 198 6; Eer kes and ory,
sim ple pre scr ipt ion s to ave t, over the course of human hist
sig nif ica nt eff ect in ena bli ng
sustainable It thu s app ear s plausible tha ed
mu late and sho uld hav e a wh ose interests were strongly link
fiv e-f old : pro vid e com ple te
pro tec tio n there have bee n hum an gro ups ups did
use. Th ese pre scr ipt ion s are resource base, and that such gro
wh ich rep res ent dif fer ent eco sys tem
s, so to the pru den t use of the ir cribed
to cer tain hab itat pat che s ctices. Ma ny of the practices des
are always ma int ain ed abo ve som
e thr esh - ind eed evo lve con ser vat ion pra societies.
tha t res our ce pop ula tio ns ort ed from different gatherer
n to cer tain sel ect ed spe cie
s so that above have in fac t bee n rep simple
old; pro vid e com ple te pro tec tio we re apparently based on several
are dis rup ted min ima lly ; pro
tec t suc h Th ese con ser vat ion pra ctic es ance of a
mu nit y-l eve l int era ctio ns to ensure the lon g-t erm susten
com res our ce rules of thu mb tha t ten ded
ry stag es as app ear cri tica l to the ma int ena nce of the thu mb were necessarily approx
imate and
life -hi sto ns at res our ce base. Th ese rules of
pro vid e com ple te pro tec tio n to res our ce pop ula tio trial and error. Practices wh ich
seemed
pop ula tio n;
h a way wo uld hav e bee n arr ive d at by
of the yea r; and org ani ze res our ce use in suc ure ma y have gradually bec om
e stronger;
cer tain tim es
e access to a to kee p the res our ce base sec se prac-
ups of peo ple con tro l or hav bee n a gradual rejection of tho
tha t onl y rela tive ly sm all gro conversely, the re cou ld have Gadgil
par tic ula r res our ce pop ula tio
n Oo han nes 1978). troy the resource base Goshi and
tha t suc h tices wh ich app ear ed to des
lut ion ary the ory sug ges ts 19 91) • Co nse rva tio n pra ctic es obs erv ed by various oth er soc
ial groups
Mo der n eco log ica l and evo
ent al collapse,
ist in avo idi ng an env iro nm
pre scr ipt ion s are lik ely to ass
 may a1so b e emu Iate d 1'f they appear successful in. resou rce conse rva- es. Such chang es are especially likely wh
. · lik ly to lead to the persis tence o f a whole ch ang h
t10n. Sue h a process 1s e . . anges relatively rapi.elly, as might have happened en t e resou b
ch . .h rce ase
range O f practi•ces,. some beneficial from the pomt of view of resource . h
ing the ice age, or w en a gatherer population e wit fluctuaf
· du r ions
conservatio n, but al so ot h ers that are neutral; and per11aps some that new
resource base, as d unng . . .
the mitial cola . . ncoun ters anent" 1
ire
. h mzation of the A y
m1g t once h ave been beneficial or neutra l but later prove harm ful on has for instan ce, been suggested that the wid d
.
. ~enca s .
It ' . . d .
accou nt of chang ed circumstances. e mamm alian specie s unng esprea extinction of
. . . 1ar g the Pleist ocene
. • ,r . d h
o_; resources. In coniu
Divers . nctio n with their vario us practi ces of was a consequence of
· d
ity ~ . . h uman overh untm g, an· t at many of the savanna- 1 dc .
restrame use, gatllerer societies· are remar kable for the great d1vers 1ty o f East and South Afinca are a result of fires lit grass an tormations
of biological resources they utilize. Studies on the Amer . . .
ears by huma n popul ation s (Men ant et al 198S) over tens of thousands
ican ~ndians of Y . N
o f A mazoma · I1ave hown that they utilize several hund red differ ·
ace of such impa ct woul d be considerably slower• thevertheless the
s ent p h ' .
· s o f p1an ts and animals for food and as sourc es of .
specie . , struct ural opula tions whic h possess more advanced modes f an t e pace m
p . . o resource use as
materials and drugs. They have distin ct name s for as
1:1any _as 500 describ ed later m this chapt. er. Some writers have clai·m d h h '
to 800 biological species (Berlin 1973). For anoth er .
thmg , differ ent gatherers possess an ecolo gical wisdo m ~ar in advance e t at unter-
tribal groups may be familiar with and utiliz e a differ ent of that shown by
set of species. mode rn m~n (Shep ard ~ 982) . Be that as it may, it is indisp
· As early as 30,00 0 years ago, for exam ple, two Nean utable that the
_d ertha l group s ecological impa ct of this mode of resource use is minim
of Dord ogne in France had appar ently specia lized in al.
differ ent prey
species, one group conce ntrati ng on horse s and the o_
th~r- on reind eer
(Leakey 1981). We may theref ore concl ude that pnnu Pastoralism
t1ve gathe rer-
shifting-cultivator societies value d a very wide range Technology: The long perio d of histo ry when huma n being
of biolo gical s were
diversity, and evolved cultur al practi ces whic h prom exclu-
oted the persis - sively gathe rers bega n to come to a close with the
tence of this diversity over long intervals. domestication of
plants and anim als. This coinc ided with the withd rawal
Deliberate destruction: Whil e gathe rer socie ties typica lly of glaciers, ten
have a thous and years ago. It is possi ble that clima tic and veget
variet y of practices that could help conse rve the ational change
resou rce base of prom pted huma n popu lation s to intens ify resou rce
their own localities, they may also delib eratel y destro use, and to initiate
y the resou rce agric ulture and anim al husba ndry. Thes e processes
bases of aliens. Thus , when New Guin ea highl ander s began in parallel,
defea t and drive and have often gone hand -in-h and.W hile the cultiv
away a neigh bouri ng group from its territ ory, the conq ation of plants has
ueror s do not been of great er signi fican ce in tracts of mode rate-t
imme diate ly occup y this territo ry. They cut value d fruit- o-hig h rainfall and
yield ing trees mode rate- to-hi gh temp eratu res, anim al husba ndry
from the conq uered group 's territ ory, there by rende has held pride of
ring it far less place in tracts of low rainfa ll, and at the highe r altitu
desira ble for recol oniza tion by the conq uered . The des and latitudes
actua l territ ory wher e temp eratu res are too low to supp ort agric
may be physi cally occup ied only later, if it is not ulture (Grig g 1980).
reocc upied by the Over large tracrs wher e agric ultur e is not feasible,
vanq uishe d group (Rap papo rt 1984). it is also difficult to
main tain herds of dome stic anim als withi n a single
Ecological impact: Gath erer societies, with their low popu lation locality. Animal
den- husb andry is there fore based , in such tracts , on
sities, low per capita resou rce dema nds, cycles of mater ials movi ng herds from
close d on place to place often over sever al hund red kilom
limit ed spatia l scales, and a numb er of pract ices that prom etres. This requires
ote susta inabl e
resou rce use, neces sarily have a low level of impa takin g adva ntage of the seaso nal abun danc e of
ct upon the envir on- grazi ng resou rces in
ment . Over long interv als, howe ver, even this can differ ent parts of a regio n. Nom adic pasto ralism
add up to subst antia l thus evolv ed as a
distin ctive mod e of resou rce use, a mode that
held sway for several
 25
h
ns articularly in Central Asia and Nort h nsiderable prem ium on cooperation withi n t e group
1965; Forde 1963). , espec1·a11y in
. a·
cenrurie::t:~:~~L~e;;:an'}Z. ,aalydamusc .
le power, an impo rtant add1-
h
t e
fli
. .
.
co conte xt o f con ct with other groups
Ideology : By survivmg successfully in h h
d"
, noma 1c or oth erw1s ·
e.
Cenrals have access to amm
andPasto . and variab l · on-
· h Ii tt1e attachment to any ars . e envir
for trans port. The amm alsI also serve nts and wit
tional source of energy, espec1.ally .
me , were perhaps the first societies to p partic u
. 1ar locali ty
, nomadic
.
r: d w h.ic h can be. tapped as .regm
red, t ms greatly ,.orals erce1ve huma communi- n .
as a source of roo pas~ e, and there fore . . .
· the use of different habitats. •
. fl exi.b1.li ty m d · . s as separ ate from natur
.
mcre asmg . lil a position to do · e
over large distan ces, an with ne usurp ation of resou rces contr olled b . minat
move . . it. Since the
Economy: N oma di c pas to rals ..
· ·51cant part f th • Y alien and settled
. access to arum o , have been critical 111
. al ene r·gy creat mg flows . of rnrnumties· · cons t"t i u t ed a sigm 0 rce
their . eir strate gy of resou
.. di .
resources over di stance sc ales that are vastly great
er than those whic h acquis1t10n, they were unlikely to evolve strong t
co
of careful
. n·es. The resources they moved have been both . d
0 r restrame resou rce use. Indee d, ideol
. ogies whi ra h tions .
. gath erer. socie
prevail. 111 c rejected .the attri-
• .
hi h-bulk commodities like salt, and high-value,
low- bulk ~uxury bution of sacre d va1ue to hvmg creatures or t o natura1 objects e g
. g like prec1. 0ul stones and musk · They .also serve
d as earne rs .of religions like . Ju daism,. . . mty
Ch nstia . and Islam a . ' · ·
items . , rose lil tracts that were
t I r:
information about""'resources of distant reg10ns and
of technolog~es dominated by nom adic pastorals in the Middle Ea s . n 1act, as Lynn
not only conti n- . . ribed the deliber-
elaborated by other societies. Consequently, pastorals White (196?) notes , such religions sometimes presc
p~oduced meat, ate destruct10n of sacred trees and sacred grove s.
ued some hunting-gathering while on the move, and
red resour~es,
milk, hide and wool from their animals, bU:~ also acqm
ange for material
!he ritua l life_ o~ noma ds is quite meagre: no pantheon
i·n g th
of gods,
•
especially from settled agricultural societies, 111 exc~ as m peasant societies, no system of totemism , as a al erer societ-
· r: ma t.10n. Even more impo rtant , nomadic
an d m1or . .pastorals . could ies. Ritu al impo rtanc e may be placed on livestock ,
but
. most never
ties o~ cult1vato~·s, ng is the relative
effectively deploy force to usurp resources from socie on natural locat ions or specific fields. Equally striki
~eg10ns of Asia with peasants and
as Chengiz Khan did with great success over the _huge unim porta nce here of witchcraft. In comparison
the~r heyday, may pacify or placate
and Europe. Indeed, nomadic pastoral societies, i~ gathere~s, nom adic pastorals have little need to
literature.
have behaved much like the r-strategists of ecological nature; m the even t of resource shortages they
remove themselves
rals rema~n
Social ·organization: The social groups of noma dic pasto to more resou rce-a bund ant areas -som ethin g peasa
nts cannot do
ss, they come m (Goldschmidt 1979).
limited to kin groups of a few thousand; neverthele
extensive terrain.
contact with large numbers of other groups over an Apar t from these broa d ideologies, in their day-to-day
interaction
of labo ur is fairly
Within the social groups of pastorals, the division with natur e nom ads do have practices whic h reveal
a deliberate restraint
whic h emer ge
limited. It is based on age, sex, and leadership qualities on resou rce use. Thes e practices include the comp
lete exclusion of
ved in feeding,
durin g inter -grou p conflict. Wom en may be more invol grazing P,ressure durin g certa in perio ds withi n fodde
r reserves, and its
ation routes
milking, and tending animals, men in decid ing on migr limit ed use duri ng othe r perio ds in terms of the
kind and number of
and herd ing animals while on the move. the system of ahmias
to emer ge. animals perm itted for graz ing- as for example in
In the pastoral mode, elements of private prop erty begi n arou nd Taif in Saud i Arab ia (Draz 1985).
ate hous ehold s,
However, whil e herds are usually owne d by separ Ecological impact: It is possible that nomadic pastorals
contributed
idual herd smen
pastures are invariably comm on property, with indiv to a grad ual over grazi ng, and to the expansion of
arid regions at their
ever, like gath erer
possessing rights of access and usufruct. How margins, all throu gh their history. This they have
certainly done across
(Kha zano v 1984) .
societies, nom adic grou ps are relatively egalitarian many regio ns in mod ern times. They have also contr
ibute d to ecologi-
ed; inde ed there is
With this, coerc ion with in grou ps remains limit cal degr adati on throu gh the organ izatio n of trade
and the diffusion
26
Through most of its history, settled cult"1vat1on .

~
nd perhaps most importantly by has thus d
over large di stances a human muscle power, supplemented . . epended
of cec~nol?gy lief in man's mastery over nature. on . m some regions b .
scle power. In the mdustrialized world . h Y arumal
dissenunaung the be mu . . , lt as come to de d
. creasmgly on fossil-fuel energy. However, pre-m . d . pen
u., in ustnal · 1
on plant and animal-bas d . agnc~ ture
Settled Cultivation depends primarily e materials alon ·h
me control of natural flowing water for irngation.. . . ' g wit
· t" learnt to cultivate plants and domesticate so . . Conse
Technology- Human socie ies re-industrial agncultural societies (more pro 1 quent1Y,
. · · d h e time beginning some 10,000 years ago. In P i: · l · 1 k nowledge base i per .Y, peasant societ-
b stant1a
an11nals aroun t e sam ' .h h . .es) have a 1air y su
• h d eloped hand-in-hand .
, wit t e traction
. . 1 . n re1anon to husbanded
some regions t e two ev lants and ammals; they also view nature as be·mg sub.~ect to human
· 1 d the manurial value of their dung .bemg vital to P . .
power O f aruma s an . control to a very sigmficant extent.
• 1 · This , for instance, was the case m the Middle
. .
agncultura operations. Economy: In peasant societies cereal grains can b e stored and
Of cattle and the plough, and .the cult1vat1on . '
East, from w h ere t h e use moved around, especially on the backs of animals or m ·
. of w h eat an d bar1ey, 0o-radually spread over parts of Asia, Europe. and .
carts, over long
animals played a much .less sigmfi- distances. Resources can here flow over much la di
· h d mesticated . . . rger stances than
Afnca. In ot er areas, o societies, enabling the concentration i·n towns of human
· lt. ti·on , as in the paddy-growin g tracts ofAsia-or had in gatherer
. . .
cant part m cu iva . . . . . .
· the case of maize cultivation m pre-Columbi an populations no~ directly mvolved in gathering or the production of
no ro 1e at all-as m
food. Changes m settlement patterns also correspond to shifts in con-
America (Grigg 1980) . - . . .
· · · 1 es an i·ntensified production of certam species of sumption. Of course, a majority of the agrarian population consumes
Cul tivanon mvo v
ant material from.a relatively _restricted area natural resources largely for subsistence- e.g. for food , clothing ,sh elter,
p1ants, an d t h e remoVal Of Pl . _
of land. The plant material so removed, for mstance cereal grams, are implements, fodder and manure. However, a small but powerful
particularly rich in certain elements, s~ch as ~trogen and phosphorus, segment of the population is involved in the large-scale consumption
and contain a number of rnicronutnent s , like boron and molybde- . and use of materials not directly related to subsistence-b oth luxury
num, in smaller quantities. The continuation or cultivation on_a piece items such as silk and wine, and instruments of coercion such as the
of land therefore depends on returning to the earth what is taken horse and elephant, metal swords and shields. Fig. 1.2 shows the result-
away from it. This happens either through long periods of fallow, as in ing structure of material flows in such a system. There are large-scale
shifting cultivation, or by the application of river silt, organic manure, exports of materials out of intensively cultivated patches oflands, both
or mineral fertilizers if the same piece of land is tilled year after year. to nearby villages and to more distant urban centres.The volume, range
Shifting cultivation is, of course, the option followed so long as the of items and distance-scal e of such flows steadily increase with techni-
amount of land available is large relative to the population. As this cal improvemen ts, especially in animal-based transport.These outflows
ratio declines, the same piece of land has to be used more and more from agricultural land are balanced by inflows from surrounding non-
intensively Almost everywhere, this has called for the extensive use of cultivated lands. In peasant societies there are no counterflows from
organic manure derived from natural vegetation in the surrounding urban centres back to cultivated lands. However, as Fig. 1.3 shows, in
areas, gathered either through grazing domestic animals or directly by industrial societies there are large flows, back to the land, of materials
human effort. This h·as changed radically only in recent times, when such as farm machinery and synthetic fertilizers.
fossil fuel energy began to be used to efficiently mine, transport and Characterize d by fairly extensive resource flows, especially of
synthesize mineral fertilizers to augment agricultural production foodgrains and livestock, peasant societies are much less subject to envi-
(Pimentel and Pimentel 1979). ronmental variation in space and time. Nevertheless, the techniques of
 culuv . an d arum
. at10n · al husbandry, the choice .of plant and animal vari-
lands are .gathered
. and th e way that resources of non-cultivated 1 al
enes t on .the oc environment. .
and put' to use are all greatly dependen adap tive
l degr ee of local ity-d epen dent
. .
There is· t h ere11c.0 re a substantia ties. This
· pa r
· -·10n ill
vanat tte ns of resou rce use with . in peasant socie .
· s to disappear only with large-scale mputs
of fossil-fuel energy
begm
. .
and advanced technology into agriculture.
res inten sive mputs of human
Social ·organization: Cultivation requi
hectares per person
energy in relatively restricted areas of land -a ~ew
group rather tha~ a
in the pre-industrial stage. Therefore a small ~n
s'. hence the family
large band can most effectively organize su~h mput
Family groups need to
becomes the basic unit of an agricultural society.
di~g defence against
co-operate with each other in a variety ofways, inclu
1s surr~nder~d as
the usurpation of their production (apart from what
ed together ma v~ag~,
· tax to the state) . Several families thus remain band
to a few thousand mdi-
which becomes a social group of a few hund red
manage a te~ritory of
viduals. This social group also tends to control and
, from whic h come 0 Non-Cultivated Lands
non-cultivated land surrounding the cultivated areas 0 Human Habitation
leaf ma~ure.
a variety of inputs such as fuel-wood, fodder and ~ Settled Cultivation
- Flows of Materials
ed m the peasant
Sex-based division of labo ur is quite pron ounc Figure 1.2 Mate rial flows in agrarian society
ations such as plou gh-
mode. Typically, men confine themselves to oper Settled agric ulture makes possible gener ation of surplus gra· d li k d
take on the burd en m an vestoc pro uc-
ing, which require higher pow er outp ut. Wom en _ _
_ gricultural populations in towns and
t10_n whi~h can s~pp ort conce ntrati on of non-a
planting, and, outside has to be made good by flows from
of more tedious work, such as weed ing and trans cities. This mater ial e~po rt from cultivated lands
r. thus become much more open in
cultivation, the collection of fuel, fodd er and wate surro un~m g n~n-c ultiva ted lands. Material cycles
always) cont rolle d g cultivator stage. Settlements adjacent .
While cultivated plots are usually (thou gh not comp arison with the hunte r-gath erer shiftin
habitation in the centre, towns . The
nds and wate r are to _cultivated land repre sent villages, the larger
by individual households, forests, _grazing grou thickness of the arrow indicates the intensity
of the flow.
erjee 1926). Several,
norm ally held in com mon by the village (cf. Muk
rated into a larger can no longer deal with
and some time s very many, such villages are integ integ rated thro ugh larger-scale resource flows
whic h the surp lus of all mem bers of the grou p in a personalized way.
chie fdom , whic h constitutes the terra in over
The righ t to do so is al society there is a
agric ultur al prod uctio n is.. pool ed together. With in the large r social grou p of an agricultur
r social entit ies inclu de by the fact that only a
cont ested with neig hbou ring states. The large great deal of divis ion of labo ur, mad e possible
ns in large r settlements, tly in the gathering
conc entra tions of non- agric ultur al popu latio fraction of the popu latio n needs to engage direc
thou sand s of inhabitants. ved in the production
the town s or cities with thou sand s or tens of and prod ucti on of food . Tho se not directly invol
social grou p (not neces- of food take on othe r occu patio ns. Thes e are
-
Whi le the villages cons titut e a face -to-f ace
sand peop le anal ogou s ds), transportation,
saril y kins hip based) of several hund red or thou The proc essin g of materials (e.g. textiles, oilsee
erers , the larg er society th cultural knowledge
to the band s/ endo gam ous triba l grou ps of gath e inter pret ation and dissemination of natural and
30

· (by specia . li d warrior groups) . In this division nd non-cultiva ted land, as the coercive power of th .
ze a . . , . . e non-agricultural
(b)' priests) and coercion
d
li . the more prestigious and skilled ector increases vis-a-vis the agricultural sector Th all .
p monopo zmg s . . · e over imbalances
of labour, men en u kill d d tedious work to the women. There decrease with large-scale mflows of synthetic che ·
· the less s e an . • · · · hi h · . . r: ili.
J·obs, passing on "al differentiatio
. . . f oercive abilities wit n t e social . . rmca1s, iert zers and
no c machinery to agricultural lands m mdustrial societ" . h
is now a substantl . y little in return for the surplus . ies, owever 1t. is.
easants who receive ver . . very likely that, given the larger inflows and outflow th · bal'
group-from P . h . . . s, e im ances
. h y yield to ot ers, to priests and warriors who provide Pertammg.
to specific elements such as rnicro-n t ·
. .
production t e h they manage to get hold of (Service u nents, or to larger
others little in return for t e surp1us orgaruc molecules like hurmc acids may becom all h
. ' e t e more acute
(Pimentel and Pimentel 1978; Stanhill 1984).
197S). . .h h therer mode, the peasant mode shows
In companson wit t e ga . d1 d Agricultura l societies might be at equilibrium w·th h ·
· . . i t eir resource
a sharp separation b enveen cultivated and non-cultivate. an? . This base; or they
. rmght
. encounter either expanding or shri· n ki ng resource
. · · ·fi
separation is sigru ican t in directing resource flows (Fig. 1.-), and bas~s-~gnc ultunsts who newly colonize lands earlier held by gatherer
·h -d t
equally so wit regar o differing forms of property and control. At . societl_es, or who newly benefit from a major resource input such as
the lowest span·al sc ale agricultural land .may be controlled
. by a farruly.
. · irrigat1011, would find themselves with an expanding resource base,
Sue h contra1 may be Su biect J
to regulanon by the village commumty, analogous to the r-strategists of ecology. On the other hand the base
which could reassign plots of land and, further, tre~t land as a c~m- may be shrinking because of an adverse climatic change, or if access is
muniry resource, perhaps for grazing purposes, ~u~sid~ the croppmg cut off from important inputs like leaf manure and fodder from forests
season (Bloch 1978). The non-cultivated land withm village boundar- newly taken over by the state. Their resource base may also shrink
. typically a few square kilometres in extent, serves to supply fuel,
ies, if agricultura l productivit y remains stagnant in the face of human
· manure , etc . for the community as a whole.The se large chunks
grazmg, population growth. An approximate equilibrium may be maintained
.
of land, different portions of which may be used at different seaso~s, if the population grows slowly, if the external demands on agricultural
may be most effectively controlled as community, rather than _family, p~oduction remain stable, and if technological progress keeps pace
property. (This also applies to water sources such as tanks, rivulets, with the need to continue increases in agricultural production in con-
lakes and springs, typically held in common.) However, with techno- sonance with population change.
logical advance and the concentration of powers of coercion, village In the last case---that of approximate equilibrium as with the
communities may lose control over cultivated lands and becom~ k-strategists of ecology-t he social groups are likely to be highly
tenant-cultivators. Access to non-cultivated lands may be lost too, for viscous, with related individuals tending to stay together and tied,
instance with the enclosure of commons by powerful landlords or by perhaps generation after generation, to a given locality. Under these
the state. In addition to land in the vicinity of villages, the state may conditions they may exhibit high levels of co-operative behaviour
lay claim to larger uninhabited tracts, constituted as princely hunting among themselves, as also behaviour which favours long-term
preserves or forests from which the army derives its supply of elephants group interests. The peasant societies of India, China and South East
(Thompson 1975;Trautmann 1982). Asia, in the period before European colonization, perhaps fall into
The large-scale resource flows of agricultural societies are accompa- this category. On the other hand, when the resource base is rapidly
nied by imbalances involving net outflows from rural areas and inflows e_x panding, especially with new land being brought under cultiva-
into urban centres.The se imbalances become progressively more acute tion, social groups are likely to be much more fluid and far less tied
as technological advances in storage, transport and processing create to any locality. Their level of co-operativ e behaviour, and especially
an effective demand for a larger range of produce from both cultivated th eir willingness
to sacrifice individual interests to long-term group