The change of "Peasant"

In 1967, a famous French sociologist named Mendras wrote a book called the end of the Peasant. At that time, France was at the end of the rapid development of urbanization, the population of agricultural workers decreased, a large number of young adults went out, and the "farmers" talked about by urban citizens gradually decreased and disappeared. In a generation, France has witnessed a millennium of civilization. In 30 years, the number of agricultural workers who provide food for society has decreased to only 1/3 of what it used to be. From 1946 to 1975, the French agricultural labor force fell from 32.6% to 9.5%. At the same time, the rural society has achieved amazing development, and those who go to the city and stay in the countryside to continue farming no longer seem to be "farmers" in the traditional sense. The end of traditional "farmers" naturally brings the birth of a new type of "farmers".

Today, France is the largest agricultural country in the European Union, not only the largest crop exporter in the European Union, but also the largest exporter of meat. French farmers must have agricultural knowledge and qualifications in order to engage in agriculture. The French countryside is clean and beautiful, and the farmers live a rich and leisurely life. France currently has about 300000 farmers, accounting for 0.5 per cent of the total population. They own 50 hectares of arable land per capita. In this sense, most of them are farmers, and their income is not lower than that of company employees in ordinary cities. they not only enjoy labor insurance, but also take a certain amount of time off each year. Every time farmers sell grain, cattle and sheep, they can get a certain amount of agricultural subsidy by ticket, and they can also recover part of the value-added tax when purchasing agricultural materials. The French government's support for agricultural development is reflected not only in the agricultural subsidy policy and the "zero agricultural tax policy", but also in social security. Farmers can get the same social security as urban residents by paying old-age social insurance, residence tax and land tax. They can see a doctor for free and get a pension when they reach retirement age.

In Britain, since a large number of serfs evolved into farmers in the late Middle Ages, the whole structure of self-farmers has also undergone profound changes, gradually dividing into wealthy farmers and hired workers, due to the gradual expansion of the scale of production, the affluent farmers are no longer farmers in the traditional sense, they live in affluence and engage in capitalist agricultural management, and many people also employ some labor force. Their identity is even closer and closer to the gentry, knights and other classes, the boundaries are becoming more and more blurred, and their economic and political status is constantly improving. Today, the British agricultural labor force accounts for only 1.4% of the national labor force, and farmers live a leisurely and affluent life on subsidies from the European Union and the British government, enjoying all the civil benefits available in Britain. In North America and some developed countries in Asia, the main form of agricultural production organization is still family farms, and agriculture is still a traditional industry that is highly valued and protected. Compared with other industries such as industry and service industry, farmers pay less tax. In addition to tax concessions, there are also agricultural subsidies and insurance subsidies. There is no difference in identity between "farmers" and citizens and citizens. Throughout the world, especially in Europe, North America, Asia and other countries that have evolved from traditional agricultural countries to modern industrialized countries, they have undergone changes in the identity of farmers in the process of industrialization and modernization. The transformation of the peasant class or identity is mostly carried out through two channels: one is the road of exploiting farmers in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, which promotes the bankruptcy or unemployment of a large number of farmers through industrialization and mechanization, and promotes the transfer of rural surplus labor to cities. Through industrialization to promote the scale and mechanization of agriculture, promote the formation of farmers' professionalization. The second is to protect the development path of farmers in the form of welfare farmers in the later period of the Industrial Revolution. Through legislation to protect agriculture and farmers, make use of strong economic strength to subsidize agriculture and farmers, promote the education and training of agricultural farmers, improve their quality, and give birth to modern agriculture and new farmers.

Up to now, whether in China or in the West, in academia or in all walks of life, whether in rural sociologists, anthropologists and economists, they are faced with great difficulties and confusion when discussing what "farmers" are. Few nouns are as difficult to define as "farmer". The debate on the definition of "farmer" has sprung up in western academic circles since the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, one German scholar even complained that the debate over how to define a "farmer" had dragged on for so long that many people thought it was a waste of time and energy to continue the discussion. Now it seems that this discussion will continue. In contemporary developed countries, "farmer" has become a completely professional concept, which refers to people who run farms and agriculture. this concept is juxtaposed with other occupations and has the same civil rights as other employees. There is only a difference between occupations, and there are no differences and boundaries between identities and grades. Today, China's "farmer" is still an identity with no choice and right after birth. Since the reform and opening up, especially in the past ten years, the identity nature of "farmers" has changed greatly, but it will be a relatively long process to bring about a complete change. In order to realize the real equal transformation from identity farmers to professional farmers, residents and citizens, it is not only the natural choice of economic and social development, but also needs the protection and promotion of political and legal system. To promote the road of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics, to promote the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, the benign interaction between industrialization and urbanization, and the coordination between urbanization and agricultural modernization, to promote the simultaneous development of industrialization, informationization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, and to realize the all-round and harmonious development of society and economy, we must realize the transformation and transition of "farmers" from identity to occupation. Realize the transition from "duality" to "monism" in urban and rural areas, and complete the change of the real identity of "farmers".