EVERYDAY FORMS OF PEASANT RESISTANCE ARR. Edited by FORREST D. COLBURN Me oemae (onboN, ENGLAN‘Conyriit © 1989 by M.E, Share, te ‘i iets eserves No pt ofthis bookamay be epoca any fom wit writen permission from the polish, ME, Saree. ‘0 Business Park Brive, Armonk, New York 10504 Avail in he Unite Kingdom std urge from M. E. Supe, Pale, 3 Henreta Suet, London WC2E RLU. Library of Congress Cataloging Pubaton Dats very forms of pest resistance / edited by Forest. Clu, em ‘isogatp Incas inde ISDN 08735-5752 ISBN 0973326229 (94) ‘Opposition Pil sence) Case tes. 2. Peasy —Case stale 3. Ral poor-Case sta. Caltur, Fores. Sens 3 EM 1B e101 405.5%33-a20| cP Prine inthe Unie Stes of Ameria . beings 7654321 CONTENTS List of Conribucors Introduction Forrest D. Colburn Everyday Forms of Resistance aes. Seat .Retween Submision and Violence: Peasant Resistance in the Polish Manorial Economy of the Kighteenth Century ‘acek Kochanowice Saboteus in the Forest: Colonialism and Peasant ‘Resistance in the Indian Himalaya ‘Ramachandra Guba The Conspiracy of Silence and the Atomistic Political Activity ofthe Egyptian Peasantry, 1882-1952 ‘Nathan Brown Class, Gender, and Peasant Resistance In Central Colombia, 1900-1930 Michal F. Jiménez . Strugaling Over Land in China: Peasant Resistance after Collectivization, 1966-1986 David Zweig o 93 m 1811 Everyday Forms of Resistance James C. Scott A psi pericous poole... sch as ke the ots tothe Government, But unethand | bor is subversion, Bishop Teele, 1717 Introduction Inthe ordinary us of heer, “development isa activity onganiaed {from above by governments and inerstional agencies. Ie aime at calightening, benefiting, and making more productive the citizens! Ssabjecs for whom ii need, although the definition of what is & ‘benefit, what i enlightening, and so 00, is made also from above. Liberal democrats have, fora log time, been active in promoting a ‘view of development that incorporates the vals and gols of in tended beneficares, Hence, we hea ters like" pariiptory deve lopment," and “grass r00s initiatives," 'decenvalizaton The [rps of uch efforts iso humanize development and to provide the ‘edback that might preven agi and costly mistakes. “More radical observers, generally from te intelligentsia, find such Initiatives hopelessly compromised and reformist. At best they argue, “participatory development” in the context of sroctral inequalities nd authoritarian regimes leas to trivia gains: at worst ly i proves marginally the efficiency ofa fundamentally repressive system. Upto this pont, believe, there is something tobe sai forthe radial itique of development. The radical solution this dilemma, howe- raises as many problems ast solves, Only @revoationary victoryant he etl iy, hy ae, cgi ee iipaton and econo tc: Hee feo Tomstaneccuraing ims ces heats hve rospt power ropes ta te, Hf ayting, more secs in exacting Tevures rom ir sujet an seentng theives. The tragedies ‘tine Great Leap Forward in Cin, collecizaton nthe U.S SR {date dete agclarein Veta arly encouraging xan ples of partpetory development “The pote wi ohh icra democratic andthe rat view of development i believe, tnt eer sufieny tail. Boh ‘tows concent o formal, open, plc activity anon the le of Utes whether consereatve offiiadom ora revlutonary vanguard fart, What hey mis he neatly connie, forma, dell {Tapund forme of autonomous resistance by lower clases forms of polis hat eal "everyday estan. Inthe aralsisthat follows iamptio describe snd analyze this eekly ignored form of pola ‘The Hidden Realm of Political Conflict Descriptions and analyses of pen politica action dominate accounts of politica confi. This ithe ease wheter thse accounts are presented by historians, political cents, journals, statesmen, o leaders of popular movements. Some of themes elling analyses of onfict arin Feat designed precisely to explain under what ecumstanoes groups in conilict resort tone a another king of open politcal ation, Thus why Some groups under certain conditions are likely to employ violent forms of politcal action-—e-g, nts, rebellion, and revolutionary Imovements-—rater than lee violent forme. petitions, rls, peaceful marches, potest voting, sikes, and boycotshas occupied ‘ener stage, Ara result ofcaefl historical comparisons, soca scien tists have Begun fo prasp ow certain soil structures, state systems, Caltral valves, and historical practices ep shape political action "The undeniable advances mae along these ies, however, are ital: 'y compromised by a damapiglymarow and poverty stricken vew of| politi action, There is avast realm of political action, described ew that s almost habitually overlooked. is ignored for at eas two ‘easons, Fist it is neither declared openly inthe usualy understood Seas of" polis,” Second, nor it group action inthe way collective {tions ull understood, The argument develope here that mich ‘ofthe polities of subordinate group fall ito he category of everyday forms ‘of resistance, that these activites should met definitely be considered polit, that they do constitute a frm of collective ction, Sd that any accoun tht ignores them is offen ignoring the most vt ‘means by which subordinate classes manifest thee political meres ‘The balance ofthis essay is devoted to sustaining and elaborating this lai. The Brectian or Schweikian form of resistance Ihave in mind are integral part ofthe small arsenal of relatively poweress groups ‘They include svc ats a foot dragging, dssimulstion, false compli- ance, feigned ignorance, desertion, plferng,smugeling, poaching, fnson slander, sabouge,surepiios assault and murder, anonymos threats, and so on. These techies, forthe mast art quite prose are the ordinary means of class struggle. They are the techniques of| “ust resort” in those common hntorel circumstances where open Subordination and Pola! Disimajation ‘The contol of anger and aggression is, for quite obvious reasons, a prominent prt ofthe socialization of tone whe grow up in subordinate _roups. Much ofthe ordinary polis of subordinate groups historical Iv has been a polite of dissimulation in which both the symbole spd practices of resistance have been veiled, Inplace of the open ns, he tse of gossip, nicknames, and character assassination; in pce of rect physical assault, the use of sabotage, arson, and nocturnal threats by masked men (e.g, Captain Swing, the Rebeca Rots, Les Demoiselle) in place of labor defiance, shirking, slowdowns, and spoilage in place ofthe x tot or rebellion, evasion, nd concealment Allof these forms of politcal struggle can be conducted just beneath ‘hesurfac fa plc eal of deference, compliance and loyalty, NO public challenge is ventured; no field of direct confrontation i volun- teored. To be sure, soch forms of struggle are best suited to those realms of conflict where the problems of contol and supervision by authorities are greatest. Te tate dst fr sinpler a collect an excise taxon imported nary vehicles coming tothe major port than pata is borders agains smuggling pain oto collect am income ax from its peasantry ‘The advantages of everyday forms of resistance ie not merely ia the smaller probably of apprehension. Thee advantage is atleast 2s ‘much inthe fact hat they are generally ereeping incremental reps that can be ely tuned othe opposition they encounter and that, since ‘ey make no formal claims, offer a ready line of reat through isavowal. Tenant farmers who are in arrears on thei ens to a an Tord ate in a diferent position from tenant fates in arrears to the ‘Sine extent who have also declared tht they ae not paying becuse the lands thet by right. State authorities and dominant ites wll natura Ip respond with greater alacrityand force to open defiance that seems to JRopardie their position. For his reason, subordinate groups have ‘ntempted, when possible, to asert ther resistance onthe safe eran tf undeclared appropriation. Their stratagems minimize the maximum fess Squtter, for example, unless they have political support, will ‘ppicaly move of private orate lands when faced with force, oly ‘eturn ity at ltr date. What everyday resistance lacks in terms of | fetus and structured claims, i compensates for by is capacity for eles presse nd thesfety and anonymity itypiealyprovidesits ethaps the most striking characteristic of normal resistance by soins groape-—both symbolic and materi is he pervasive use fof disguise. The disguise is of two main pes, with many intermediate Possible Fist and most common isthe concealment of anonymity Of the resister, The poacher, the plferer, the deserter and the 1 ‘ar hope their acts wil Be undetectod or passed over Simi, the propegnors of rum and gossip are, by definition, anonymous; there eno apparent producer but scores of eager rears. The wse of dis {ule ir off not just metapborical but Uteral. Peasant and carly ‘working class protest in Europe provides innumerable examples of| Callectve action where the message was clear bt the mesenger were ‘isuised. Inthe Captain Swing "disturbances" inthe 1830s twas ‘common for farm laborers to come in disguise at night wih torches and insist on the destruction of threshing machines. Everything about the roest was quite pecfic excep forthe personal (tthe class identity ‘ofthe protesters, The tradition of lower classes wearing disguises in ‘onder 10 speak biter us to their superiors i, ofcourse, firmly instutionalized inthe carnival and a varity of other rivals of folk calre ‘By contrast, gret deal of symbolic resistance by pesans and oer soborinae groupe reverie this arrangement Instead of a lear message delivered by adisgused mesenger, an ambiguous message is deere by clearly identified messengers. Many of the flkaies of peasant and slave culture fll int his category. The enormously popu lar ckster figures among such groups (eg. Til Eulenspiegel, BerRabbit, the mouse-der of Malaysian culture) ae taken both as dis- used forms of aggression and implicit seatgi alice. Because they late veiled, however they do ot offer the authorities clear-cut oc Sion fr scallion. Slave spiitulsstesing Old Testament hemes of lieration and justice or what have becn calle the" Work Upside Down" brondsheets (eg, woodcuts depicting a serf being led on horseback by his lord) might be seem inthe same ight. And it has alvays ben common Tor pesans, when making thre again lites ‘or authorities, to deliver thse threats inthe form of euphemisms ‘Ths, for example, arsonists threstening wealthy farmers raistocrat ic landholders in carly eghteontvcentury France would se known formulas for ther trcats: "Twill have you awakened by a ed cook" “Twilight your pipe," “will send a man dressed in ed who will pall everything dowa." The meaning ofthe message war, ofcourse, erect nar, ut ewe peri feted an svete of ‘Many forms of sistance in dangerous crcumstanss ae incaded to be ambiguous, wo have a double meaning, tbe grbed 0 that they cannot be treated as a dice, open challenge and, hence, invite cull iret, open retaliation. For this reason it would be instructive to devise 2 theory of political masking by rubordnate groupe, An nays ofthe pftern of disguises andthe forms of domination under Which they oecur could conte to our understanding of what hap- paso “vole,” in Albert Hirchman’s meaning ofthat term, under omination. Open declarations of defiance ae replaced by cuphe isms and metaphors; clear speech by mutering ad grumbling: open «confrontation by concealed noncompliance or defiance. This bit ex postion af everyday forms of resistances hardly the place to develop theory of political disguises, but Table I is ineade o suggest cn posible line of ing. Gestres, Resistance, and Rebellion ‘To understand beter the context and function of every forms of| resistance it may be hepfl to cotrast them to polite! gestures. The poacher, whe hopes o escape notice, may further his aim by making & public show of deference tnd devotion to those on whose property ‘laims he is secretly encroaching. A practical et of existance i this ‘often accompanied by a public discursive affirmation of the very arrangements being resisted ~the beter to undermine them in practice onmaon nd Degas _ fone gm mre “aera | RESET emma — Rear - «cng rn congas a notae Bere, yet Cire: ie “When the act of everyday eesitance is meant to be noiced—meant 10 ‘Senda signal~esin the cae of arson or saboxage,thenthe resisters take spc cr coe eee, fen hind ek of pbc confor "Ne my cont his pater wth ace of resistance in which th” erapasis reversed. I everyday resistance is "heavy" the instru neta side and “Tight on the symbolic confrontation sie, then the Ccntrastng acts would be “Tigh” onthe instrumental sie and “es 47" om the symbolic sie,” A few examples may’ elp sharpen the ‘trast, During the Spanish Civil War at-clrical supporters ofthe Republic invade churees and cathodrals in oder to disier the re mains of pies, bishops, cardinals, and mans who were buried inthe {ypts. Their exhumed remains were then spilled ono the steps ofthe ‘harches by the erowd oe publlyscea by the population most puticulny by the enemies ofthe Republic. would be hard to imagine {tore powerful ct of ant-cleical symbolism, amore extreme at of| public deseeration and contempt. To this day the episode is remem [ered sd invoked policy by he right in Spain as an example of let- ‘wing Barbas, Whats noabe aboot the revoluioary exhunations In Spain ie that they approached th imi of pure symbelic action. No property was redistributed, no ope was murdered” nor was the bal nce of malay fore alfered in any apparent way, The objective was rater to pity exhib the utmost contempt forthe Spanish church,fs symbols, and is heroes. As « declaration of war, symbolically speaking, revoltionary exhumations Belong atthe opposite cn of & continuum of forms of resistance from the low profile poacher 'A huge realm of political conflict belongs to the sane gens of public, symbolic confontations, The wearing of black armbands to ommaporate a poideal mary, hunger strikes, not to mention the cultural confrontations invited by various counterculture groups are precisely intended ab discursive negations of the existing symbole ‘order. As such, they fail ules they gain attection. If everyday’ resis tance represents disguised forms of sirugle over appropriation, then ‘evolutionary exhumations represent public, open forms of corons tion over the symbols of dominant discourse. Both forms of action are {megral o politcal conic. ‘Mot “cveryay resisters ae rater lke opponents of law who estimate that ts more convenient to evade itor bribe their way around itrater than to change it In the case the peasantry, of course, the state and is laws are rypicallyinacesible, arbitrary, and alien. The ‘notion of ollective pblic action to change the structure of 4, prop xy lor civil ight is confined langly to the Iierate mile cats and the ieligentsia Ditectng attention to the strategic reasons for the symbolic low profil of everyday resistance may cast some light on bow changes in ‘the forms of poiial ction occur. ir, ti ndeniale that everyday resistance sles threatening to public domination precialy because t voids an engagement at that evel. I squatters invaded privat or sate land publicly, and declared ther right to use ita they saw fit hey ‘would, nefet be declaring that they were not quater and, instead, Airey challenging property arrangements. Tiss more menacing 10 political authoey and its exactly what the Diggers did during the English Revolution when the balance of power temporarily freed them to at openly. Everyday resistance, then, by not open cootesting the ‘dominant norms of aw, castor, politeness, deference, loyalty, abd so fon, leaves the dominant in comand of the public stage, Inasmuch ax tery tof compliance with « normative onde dscusively affirms that onder, while every public at of repudiation eg allure wo stand ring national anthems i the United States represents threat o that term, everyday reritance ewes dominant spmbole sce i ___ Th however, the pareived relationship of power shifts in favor of subordinate groups, everyday resistance may well become aire and open political challenge and surreptitious or disguised symbolic dis- ‘Sen ay become a public reauncation of domination. Aesopanlan- iunge may give way to diet vitpertio, and everyday forms of| fesistance to over, collective defiance. “The prebistory of many larg rebellions and revolutions might be retrepetively recast along these line, A pattern of quit resistance both symbolically and materially suddenly becomes generalized, mas- ‘She and open a the politi situation presents new possibilities that previously seemed wtopian, The Pench peasnty who burned cha- eaux and abbeys in 1789 were presumably not perfect alleglant ‘etnes other kings and lords in 1788. Thesis power that ake possible new forms of esitanes may often originate outside the imme- ite domain we are considering, a in eases of worldewide trade slumps, defeat ia war, and soon. They may also originate inthe very [proces of resistance und counterrsistance, Balzar, though is kay proal i paren, captures the process with respect to poaching att leaning Do ot iaugine tht Tosard, or his old maker or his wife and tea eer said in so many words, westeal for living and do ou Stealing clever Those habits had grown slowly. The family began tying fe green boughs wih he dead Wood, then emboldened by abi and by a calculated impuniy afer ewenty years the fail had poten othe pn of aking wood as if tweeter ov an making ving almost ect by the. The ih of psturing tie cows, the abuse of glaring pai, of glenn arapes, had frien established ide by tne i this fashion. By she time the “onsrds andthe cer lzy pests ofthe valley had tasted the tents of thse four rghs acquired y the por inte our, Fights the othe pon of pillage, one ca imagine at they Were unit renounce them uses complied by a ore stonge han thie anda. Balzac, it should be ade, observes thet many ofthese ew “rights ‘were entrenched by peasants taking advantage ofthe revolution athe poliical veuum tit followed it Everyday forms of resistance maybe thought of as exerting con stant pressure, probing for weak points in the defenses of antagoniss| ‘nd westing the limite of resistance. Inthe case of poaching, for exain- le thre may bea fly stabe epson ove ime beeweea poachers and‘amekeepers. But when sa, itturs out that over the past few months {aking rabbits i punished or prevented much less frequen, the vo lume of pooching and the numberof participants ae likely to swell toa point where acusomor even aight to take rabbitsthreatens to become tsablishe® Alternatively, any pum of evens might impel pouch- 5 10 run moe risks~e ga crop filire, an ineease in meat prices, higher taxes~so that ther bodes and numbers Overwhelm the ext ing capacity of those who enforce game laws. There is stengih in numbers, and poaching tha becomes generalized to whole communi- ties may as Balzac nots, requie new level of coercion to reestablish the old alance.*! The hydraulic metaphor implicit ere of water of variable pressure, straining against a (movable!) eaining wall having certain suengths and weakneses is necesanly era but, perhaps suggetive ‘Mach the same approach might be applied to symbolic defiance. Staves, srs tenant farmers, and worers, in poli, sy prety much ‘what their masters, les, landlords, and bosses expect them to sy. Yet there are likely to be hidden transcrip of what subordinates sctull thik that cam be recovered in offstage conversation i slave ‘quarters, vied cultural performances (eg, folktales, carnival). This hidden ransrip my be cured as continually esting the line of what ‘is permissible onstage. One particularly intepi,eskaking angry. tunguarded subordinate says something that jst touches or roses the lie. Its nt rebuked of punished, hes, profiting from the exam le, 15 ell, an anew de Tato line is ‘rete, governing what may be si or gestured. In evolutions, ones likely to sce unbridled anger—the ene hidden trancrpt—epoken ‘openly and act openly. I is unlikely that we can accotnt forthe content of this ation by reference to ctsdeapittors, thi deoog3, ‘or even the aspirations engendered by a revoltionary process. The ‘evolutionary ations might well have been pefigured in their practices of resistnce and in ther of stage discourse. What had changed was shoveall he conditions that had previously confined the public expres ‘son of these actions and sentient. 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