Resumo

MARTIN-CASTILLO, Manuel. Milpa and capitalism: options for Yucatec mayan contemporary peasant. LiminaR [online]. 2016, vol.14, n.2, pp.101-114. ISSN 2007-8900.

The majority of contemporary Yucatec Maya live in poverty. The axis of their economy and their culture is the milpa. Young people do not regard milpa as an attractive economic option. Conventional economic theory explains poverty as originating from the scarcity of capital, the continuing utilization of obsolete technologies, which in turn lead to low productivity. Although corn farming is often viewed as an obsolete or archaic productive enterprise, farming a milpa has certain social, economic, environmental, and cultural characteristics that deserve study and assessment. Linking peasant and capitalist economies, through incorporating milpa agriculture into a more diverse global economic system, might offer ways to not only improve the living conditions of Yucatec Maya, but might also contribute to the development of new forms of Maya culture.

Palavras-chave : Mayan culture; milpa; poverty; peasant economy; capitalist economy.

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