CHAPTER 9 TRANSNATIONALISM AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MESOAMERICA 351neoliberal policies by Latin American governments. Although Mayer writes about
indigenous peasants in Peru, the lives he describes are comparable to those in
Mesoamerica in that they too have been impacted by similar Spanish-colonial lega-
cies and have been subjected to similar neoliberal policies.
Second, as argued by Michael Kearney (1996), the term “peasant” does not prop-
erly describe an important sector of contemporary Mesoamerican economic life. On
the basis of his research on transnational Mixtec and Zapotec migrants, he contends
that former peasants are now wage-earning laborers and that the basic unit of pro-
duction has ceased to be the household. Also working in Mesoamerica, particularly
in Quintana Roo, Eugene Anderson (2005) generally agrees with Kearney and holds
that the Spanish term “campesino” (rural peoples) is a better term, since the Mayas
he has studied are not peasants in the classic definition although some do subsist on
the land and production is organized according to household.
Third, scholars who study coffee workers and small coffee growers such as Mark
Edelman (1999) argue that the concept of peasant continues to have analytical and
social relevance because it is a term that serves political means. Many coffee workers
and growers rally around the peasant concept in order to position themselves against
unfair trade policies and large transnational coffee companies.
Clearly, the concept of peasant is debatable, as an analytical category and as an
actual classificatory term. It may be that the future of “real” peasants, who base their
living on subsistence farming organized according to household, is coming to an
end. We suggest, however, that “peasant” continues to be a useful analytical concept
and an accurate description of real Mesoamericans. At its most general (and vague)
level, the term “peasant” refers to societies or sectors of societies that are linked to
larger, dominant societies or sectors. Although peasants are usually discussed in the
context of capitalist systems, they are present in other economic systems as well. For
example, as rural inhabitants depending on and providing labor to other sectors,
peasants were once a key part of feudal society. Although often associated with iso-
lated rural settlements, some peasants live in smaller urban centers and retain some
linkages to agriculture.
Most peasants own at least a small parcel of land, where they have a house and
perhaps a garden. Yet many peasants have no land. They must rent land to cultivate
crops or must rent a site for their house and then work for wages for other peasants
in the nearest towns and cities. Some peasants work seasonally in haciendas and plan-
tations. These people are often referred to as rural proletariats. Other peasants are
engaged in commercial activities. They commercialize their own surpluses or act as
intermediaries. Some combine wage labor with subsistence production. Others may
fish, hunt, gather wild plants, and grow crops.
The stereotypical agricultural inhabitant who owns enough land for self-
sufficiency and cooks the food he or she produces is rare in the region today. Rather,
peasants represent women and men involved in multiple activities. They may be agri-
culturalists who are connected to other peoples through the marketing system. If
this type of person owns land, Kaqchikel Mayas would refer to them as tikonel
(Kaqchikel for farmer or agriculturalist). If a person does not own the land he or she