Table of Contents

1 Introduction: The Peasant in Each of Us 1

2 New Frontiers: From the First Peasants to Early Agrarian States 12

3 Extending Frontiers: Agrarian Empires and Their Peasants 34

4 Interconnecting Frontiers: Imperial Growth, Commercial Expansion and the Peasantization of the World 61

5 Intensifying Frontiers: The Territorialization of Peasantries and the Final Enclosure 87

6 Globalizing Frontiers: The Reform of Peasantries in a Neoliberal World 113

7 The End of Frontiers: The Past and the Future of Peasants 131

About the Author

Eric Vanhaute is Professor in Economic and Social History and World History at Ghent University, Belgium. He has published extensively on agrarian and rural history, the history of labor markets and social inequality, and world history.