ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the development of Marxist theory towards agriculture in general, and simple commodity production in particular. It reviews the problems which historical cases have presented for Marxist theory and examines the consequences of these theoretical refinements for an understanding of contemporary agrarian change in developed economies. The chapter examines some attempts to define the structural position of the capitalised family farm under capitalism, and attempt to theorise, in a more convincing fashion, the relationship between technology and the rural labour process in the Western industrialised countries. The ‘pure’ or ideal case of simple commodity production is predicated on the central, virtually exclusive role of self-employed household members in meeting the technical requirements of labour. These requirements, which are enforced by competition, correspond with the household labour supply, so that ‘simple commodity production has no class relations within the enterprise’.
