Capitalist Farming and the Farm Family: A Case Study

Family relations and market relations have usually been perceived of as structurally distinct. By analysing a case study of capitalist farmers in lowland Britain, the author attempts to expose the interrelationships between family processes on the one hand and the growth of capitalist farming on the other. The tendency to interpret the growth of modern farming in strictly economically `rational' terms has avoided an examination of the farm family as a central institution. A discussion of family household processes, the organization of farm businesses and the existence of `independent' and `collective' ethics goes some way in explaining the development of large scale farming enterprises and the maintenance of a smaller farm business sector. It is argued that an examination of such social processes are crucial for the future understanding of dominant capitalist groups in the rural environment.