Dissertation Research: Ideology, Agency, and Production in an Andean Peasant Community: The Collective Struggle for Self-Determination

本项目涉及肯塔基大学一名人类学学生的论文研究。主题是描述最近在秘鲁高地发展起来的土著农民社会运动如何在农村贫困的严重制约下促进家庭的经济生存。该学生将对卡哈马卡市附近的一个乡镇进行案例研究，包括对80个家庭的样本进行基线问卷调查，参与观察当地的经济、社会和政治活动，深入分析社区机构的功能，以及一套密集的生活史。要问的基本问题涉及这些农村印第安人如何组织起来捍卫他们的社会和社区利益，这两个组织是rondas campesinas（自卫自助团体）和clubs de madres（母亲俱乐部），答案将通过分析家庭层面的经济活动、社会组织和文化资本的各个方面的变化而得到。这项研究很重要，因为它将促进我们对当今世界上发生的一个基本过程的理解，即贫困、处境不利的农民社区通过当地民间社会的新组织争取自决的斗争。诸如此类的案例研究将为规划者和发展专家提供有关当地社区如何在不同的社会和经济限制下自我组织的信息；这些信息将有助于制定新的援助计划，以促进和平的民主制度。

This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Kentucky. The topic is to describe how recently developed indigenous peasant social movements in highland Peru facilitate the economic survival of households in light of the severe constraints of rural poverty. The student will conduct a case study of one rural township near the city of Cajamarca, involving the administration of a baseline questionnaire to a sample of 80 households, participant observation in local economic, social and political activities, in-depth analysis of the function of the communal institutions, and a set of intensive life histories. The fundamental questions to be asked involve how these rural Indians have organized to defend their social and communal interests in two organizations, the rondas campesinas, (defence-self-help groups) and the clubs de madres (mothers' clubs), and the answers will come through analysis of household-level variations in economic activities, social organizations and various aspects of cultural capital. This research is important because it will advance our understanding of a fundamental process occurring in the world today, the struggle for self-determination by poor, disadvantaged peasant communities through new organizations in local civil society. Case studies such as this will give planners and development specialists information about how local communities self-organize under varying social and economic constraints; information which will be useful to developing new programs of aid to facilitate peaceful democratic institutions.