Family agriculture, technology and peasantry: echoes of a historical debate and its relation with public policies

Abstract

This article discusses the debate about the specificity of the question on peasant framework of
discussions of the agrarian question today. For this reason, resumes the ideas around the technological
modernization of agriculture, including the vision of economic theorists, neoclassical
of the Marxists classic survey and, finally, the contribution of pioneering studies of Alexander
Chayanov about the theme. At a second moment, in the light of the theoretical concepts addressed
is the unfolding in the context of debates (and, therefore, the orientation of the political
practice of social actors) of the agrarian question in Brazil. Finally, it is submitted that, while the
concept of peasantry refers to a concept of political, social class, the notion of family farming is
more active, in order to define typologies that guide the elaboration of public policies, and discuss
some implications of this debate from the point of view of technological models in building
styles of agriculture many of the inspired by the hegemonic conception.