ABSTRACT
Robert Redfield says that peasants "control and cultivate their land for subsistence". Peasants represent a stage of human development that goes considerably beyond that reached by primitive man. Primitive, pre-agricultural people were less capable of finding a solid symbol for their sense of order and need for security and, consequently, were more haunted by the unpredictable and individual in nature. Peasantry is still disturbed by factors of insecurity, but these are more closely connected with the productive process, which, in itself, is a factor of security. The issue of whether peasantry on the one hand and townspeople or gentry on the other belong to the same tradition, or whether perhaps their relationship is more complex, may be discussed in terms of the relationship of great and little traditions. Redfield's characterization continues by referring to peasantry as rural people "who look to and are influenced by gentry and townspeople whose way of life is like theirs but in more civilized form".
