Capital, Saving and Credit in Peasant Societies: Studies from Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean and middle America

The formation and management of capital are among the central issues in economic growth, especially in 'under-developed' countries, and form the main theme in this volume. The societies examined vary widely, both geographically and also in terms of types of social and economic structures. First published in 1964.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Capital, Saving and Credit in Peasant Societies, Raymond Firth; Chapter 2 )., Lorraine Bari?; Chapter 3 Personal Capital Formation among the Tolai of New Britain1I carried out the field work on which this paper is based as a Research Fellow of the Australian National University, Canberra, in a Tolai parish, between October 1959 and October 1960, and again from April to July 1961., Scarlett Epstein; Chapter 4 Capital, Investment and the Social Structure of a Pastoral Nomad Group in South Persia, Fredrik Barth; Chapter 5 Capital, Savings and Credit among Lao Peasants1This essay has primary reference to the situation in Laos as it existed in the late 1950s. By 1962 the Communists and their allies had obtained effective control of all of the country beyond the regions bordering on the Mekong. It is to be presumed that they have made vigorous efforts to change or at least modify existing administrative and land tenure patterns. Significant migration also occurred during and after the fighting., Joel M. Halpern; Chapter 6 Capital Saving and Credit in Highland Orissa (India), F. G. Bailey; Chapter 7 Capital, Saving and Credit in a Malay Peasant Economy, M. G. Swift; Chapter 8 Capital, Saving and Credit among Indigenous Rice Farmers and Immigrant Vegetable Farmers in Hong Kong's New Territories, Marjorie Topley; Chapter 9 Institutions for Capital Formation and Distribution among Fijians, C. S. Belshaw; Chapter 10 Rural Local Savings Associations (Maori Komiti) in New Zealand's Far North1The research for this essay was carried out during visits to Kotare, a Maori community in the Far North of New Zealand, in 1955 (five months), 1958 (six months), 1959 (three weeks) and 1960 (one month), with the assistance of a Carnegie Social Science Research Grant (1955) and Fellowship (1958–60). I am indebted to the Maoris of Kotare for their unfailing courtesy and co-operation, Part icularly to the Hakea and Karaka komiti marae and to the officers of the Kotare Komiti Marae, who gave me full access to their minutes and account books. The essay is published with the full knowledge and approval of the members of the Kotare Komiti Marae, granted at their annual general meeting on April 25, 1960, in the hope that their experience may be interesting and helpful to others., Joan Metge; Chapter 11 Capital, Credit and Saving In Javanese Marketing1The material for this essay was gathered during the year July 1953 to July 1954 in a medium sized town (here given the pseudonym Modjokuto) about eighty kilometres south of Surabaya in East Java. Though the work was done within only one market, this market was in daily contact with the surrounding town and city markets and information from traders who visited these markets indicates clearly that the patterns found in Modjokuto were typical of a wider area. Statements from traders who had previously worked in other Part s of Central Java, and my own observations in widely scattered areas, indicate that the basic organization of the market was similar over much of Java, at that time. In 1959, however, the Indonesian government passed laws expelling Chinese traders from rural areas. These laws are now being put into effect. It is clear that the removal of the Chinese must have important repercussions on many aspects of market trade, and that many of the patterns described here will have been substantially affected., Alice Dewey; Chapter 12 The Employment of Capital by Market Women in Haiti1Field work was carried out in Haiti during 1958–59. The writer is grateful to the Guggenheim Foundation and the Social Science Research Council for support of his research, to the Republic of Haiti, its official agencies, and its citizens for their courtesies and hospitality. Thanks go to Mr Vem Carroll for helpful criticisms., Sidney W. Mintz; Chapter 13 Capital Saving, and Credit in a Guatemalan and a Mexican Indian Peasant Society, Manning Nash; Chapter 14 Ethnic Difference and Peasant Economy in British Guiana, Raymond T. Smith; Chapter 15 Capital, Saving and Credit Among Mauritian Indians1The research on which this paper is based was made possible by a grant from the Colonial Social Science Research Council to whom grateful acknowledgement is made., Burton Benedict; Chapter 16 Capital Formation, Saving and Credit in Indian Agricultural Society, Bert F. Hoselitz; Chapter 17 The Study of Peasant Economic Systems, B. S. Yamey;

About the Author :
Raymond Firth, B. S. Yamey