Una aproximación a la naturaleza social de la población rural santiagueña: el caso de Salavina

This article is part of the classic debate of the early twentieth century between “campesinistas” (agrarian populists) and “descampesinistas” (their opponents). It seeks to update the issue using a specific study. To this end, it examines a sample of rural families from the department of Salavina, located in the province of Santiago del Estero (Argentina). This is one of the departments where many of the peasant farms in the province were located. The analysis is based on the assumption that the notion of peasantry is too vague and imprecise and does not give a clear idea of the society to which this group of rural families belonged. On the other hand, the concepts of historical materialism- in which landed workers, semiproletarians and rural petty bourgeoisie had a part to play- provide a better idea of the social fabric of the families that are the subject of this study. This analysis is based on data taken from the Formulario de Caracterización Familiar (Family Characterization Form (FCF) of the Small Farmer Development Project (PORINDER), relating to the year 2009.