This book does not offer a sweetened, simplified, or naive vision of what the "peasant" subject is, but rather dares to delve deeper, with the help of the young and old Bourdieu,
along with Zygmunt Bauman and several other authors, into the old classical conceptions, confronting,
reviewing, and critiquing them. The author helps us understand the subject in terms of its capacity for adaptation,
determination of goals, resources and energy, creation of networks, and capacity to surpass itself. Thus, the "peasant" subject ceases to be a merely bucolic or marginal image, but becomes relevant and not merely marginal subjects, even more so in the face of challenges such as the development of food sovereignty, which will very likely be required once the already established climate crisis manifests itself in full. These subjects, in short, turn out to be experts at survival, facing not only risks but also uncertainties.
The author, in an objective manner, but not lacking in intellectual honesty and courage, offers us
–
lights for a future that, in the face of the climate crisis, looms over a confident and,
above all, perhaps, arrogant humanity.
The entire reading is a constant delight and learning experience, if we are willing to leave our
intellectual comfort zone and our own experiences.
The book is far from being a mere manifesto; on the contrary, it is a call to revisit this
“subject of history…and of prehistory,” since perhaps in it we can find ways out
of humanity's new pressing challenges, as long as we halt the lethal
process of depeasantization underway.