The main aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities and limits of the application of the concept of agency to tackle early medieval peasant-based societies. While this concept has achieved great success in archaeology since the 1980s onwards, it has rarely been applied for medieval contexts. However, recent historiographical developments and approaches within medieval archaeology invite to consider its applicability to expand our understanding of this social group. Through two case studies located in central Iberia considering the emergence and development of post-Roman peasant-based societies, I will argue that an archaeology of peasant agency during early medieval times is not only possible, but also necessary in order to overcome overoptimistic and biased approaches to these societies. Furthermore, it will be argued that this archaeology depends on the complex analysis of the relationship between agency and structure and the detection of those “arenas of struggle” through which the agency of different social groups are displayed.
University of Salamanca, Spain - ORCID: 0000-0001-9479-2720
Titolo del capitolo
The “arenas of struggle” of peasant agency in early medieval times: a theoretical and archaeological approach
Autori
Carlos Tejerizo García
Lingua
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0562-7.08
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Titolo del libro
Local Societies and Peasantry Agencies in Medieval Iberia
Curatori
Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
304
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0562-7
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0561-0
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0562-7
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0564-1
Collana
Reti Medievali E-Book
ISSN della collana
2704-6362
e-ISSN della collana
2704-6079