ringing in new cultural influences from north and south depending on which way the political winds are blowing at a given time. The way people settled in this region and the kinds of home they could build were determined by the geography above all. Over time, there have been disputes between villages in the region over land use and because of population pressures.
The authors consider the lives of the mountain peasants and note how these people have shaped their lives to the environment. Their life is presented as difficult. Village life is contrasted with peasant life, and earning a living in one of the villages was nearly impossible if one did not have at least some claim to a holding. In addition, there were few opportunities for making a living outsider the village with any sense of continuity and a reasonable income. Land is needed, so competition for land has been acute. There are a few large landholdings, but these seem to be the exception (Cole and Wolf 160-161).
Labor is organized around the land as well. Most of the labor on an estate comes form members of the domestic group, though supplemental labor is needed for some tasks. Additional labor is recruited largely from Upper Anaunia. There are difference among the various villages as to how workers are recruited, treated, and housed. Households help one another, though there are no formal structures for asking for help and no certainty that help will be provided when asked for by one household. The two sets of villages examined have social relations that follow what the authors call generalized and balanced reciprocity, as defined by Sahlins:
Balanced reciprocity is less "personal" than generalized reciprocity. From our own vantage-point it is "more economic." The parties confront each other as distinct economic and social interests. The material side of the transaction is at least as critical as the social: there is more or less precise reckoning,...