ABSTRACT
Before the struggle there was little, if any, evidence of overt class antagonism on the Larzac. Some farmers may have exploited their shepherds as evidenced by low pay, long hours and no vacations. However, if the shepherds felt exploited, this feeling was rarely, if ever, articulated (at least publicly). It was assumed that shepherds would accept their putative and traditional status as subservient members of geographically scattered farming families. By 1981, the enclosure of pasture land and/or the incorporation of remaining shepherds into GAECs removed this potential cause of tension from the social and economic life of the plateau. As for the small-scale farmers of Pierrefiche, though they voted Socialist by tradition, this did not mean that they stood in overt opposition to the larger and more successful farmers of the northwest and south, who voted for right-wing parties. The natives of Pierrefiche lived more or less in their own world until the struggle both united the farmers of the extension zone in common combat and brought potential conflicts into focus.
