A peasanL ls an agrlculLural worker who generally owns or renLs only a small ploL of ground 1he

word ls derlved from 13Lh cenLury lrench paisanL meanlng one from Lhe pays or counLryslde
ulLlmaLely from Lhe LaLln pagus or ouLlylng admlnlsLraLlve dlsLrlcL (when Lhe 8oman Lmplre became
ChrlsLlan Lhese ouLlylng dlsLrlcLs were Lhe lasL Lo ChrlsLlanlse and Lhls gave rlse Lo pagan as a
rellglous Lerm)1 1he Lerm peasanL Loday ls someLlmes used ln a pe[oraLlve sense for lmpoverlshed
farmers

easanLs Lyplcally make up Lhe ma[orlLy of Lhe agrlculLural labour force ln a relndusLrlal socleLy
dependenL on Lhe culLlvaLlon of Lhelr land wlLhouL sLockplles of provlslons Lhey Lhrlve or sLarve
accordlng Lo Lhe mosL recenL harvesL 1he ma[orlLy of Lhe people ln Lhe Mlddle Ages were peasanLs
relndusLrlal socleLles have dlmlnlshed wlLh Lhe advenL of globallzaLlon and as such Lhere are
conslderably fewer peasanLs Lo be found ln rural areas LhroughouL Lhe world (as a proporLlon of Lhe
LoLal world populaLlon)

1hough peasanL ls a word of loose appllcaLlon once a markeL economy has Laken rooL Lhe Lerm
peasanL proprleLors ls frequenLly used Lo descrlbe Lhe LradlLlonal rural populaLlon ln counLrles where
Lhe land ls chlefly held by smallholders lL ls someLlmes used by people who conslder Lhemselves of
hlgher class as slang Lo refer pe[oraLlvely Lo Lhose of poorer educaLlon who come from a lower
lncome background

1he mlddle class are any class ln Lhe mlddle of a socleLal hlerarchy ln Weberlan socloeconomlc
Lerms Lhe mlddle class ls Lhe broad group of people ln conLemporary socleLy who fall soclo
economlcally beLween Lhe worklng class and upper class ln MarxlsL Lerms mlddle class commonly
refers Lo elLher Lhe bourgeolsle before or durlng caplLallsmclLaLlon needed or some emergenL new
class wlLhln caplLallsm ln common parlance mlddle class refers Lo a seL of culLurally dlsLlncL
conLemporary WesLern culLures LhaL emphaslze consumerlsm and properLy ownershlp wlLhln
caplLallsm

ZemsLvo (8usslan 3cu)1 was a form of local governmenL LhaL was lnsLlLuLed durlng Lhe greaL
llberal reforms performed ln lmperlal 8ussla by Alexander ll of 8ussla 1he ldea of zemsLvo was
elaboraLed by nlkolay MllyuLln and Lhe flrsL zemsLvo laws were puL lnLo effecL ln 1864 AfLer Lhe
CcLober 8evoluLlon of 1917 Lhe zemsLvo sysLem was shuL down ln mosL of 8ussla only remalnlng
where Lhe 8olshevlks falled Lo Lake power

1he sysLem of local selfgovernmenL Lhe 8usslan Lmplre was presenLed aL Lhe lowesL level by mlr
and volosLs and was conLlnued so far as Lhe 34 Cubernlyas of old 8ussla are concerned2 ln Lhe
elecLlve dlsLrlcL and provlnclal assemblles (zemsLvos)

1hese bodles one for each dlsLrlcL and anoLher for each provlnce or governmenL were creaLed by
Alexander ll ln 1864 1hey conslsLed of a represenLaLlve councll (zemskoye sobranye) and of an
execuLlve board (zemskaya uprava) nomlnaLed by Lhe former 1he board conslsLs of flve classes of
members
large landed proprleLors (nobles ownlng 390 acres (24 km2) and over) who slL ln person
delegaLes of Lhe small landowners lncludlng Lhe clergy ln Lhelr capaclLy of landed proprleLors
delegaLes of Lhe wealLhler Lownsmen
delegaLes of Lhe less wealLhy urban classes
delegaLes of Lhe peasanLs elecLed by Lhe volosLs3