Abstract
Numerous cases of increasing population without fallow shortening or intensification without population pressure have been cited as disproof of the Boserup model of agricultural change. In this paper we argue that the model is an efficient explanation for agricultural change but only when certain agroecological conditions are met: higher marginal input costs must be both necessary and sufficient to raise production. Elsewhere, conditions are non-Boserupian, and other kinds of responses should be expected. Wupatki, a prehistoric agricultural frontier, is a case in point. Boserupian intensification was mostly impossible here, and with population influx, farmers turned instead to sociopolitical means of protecting the land base for extensive agriculture. A contemporary example from Nigeria illustrates territorial control by groups consolidated along ethnic lines. The strategy of relying on increasing numbers and monumental construction to back up territorial claims had unintended long-term consequences that led to abandonment of Wupatki.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 113-128 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | American Anthropologist |
| Volume | 101 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| State | Published - Mar 1999 |
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Keywords
- Agricultural change
- Political ecology
- Prehistoric Southwest
- Settlement patterns
- West Africa
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anthropology
Cite this
Non-Boserupian ecology and agricultural risk : Ethnic politics and land control in the arid Southwest. / Stone, Glenn Davis; Downum, Chris E.
In: American Anthropologist, Vol. 101, No. 1, 03.1999, p. 113-128.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-Boserupian ecology and agricultural risk
T2 - Ethnic politics and land control in the arid Southwest
AU - Stone, Glenn Davis
AU - Downum, Chris E
PY - 1999/3
Y1 - 1999/3
N2 - Numerous cases of increasing population without fallow shortening or intensification without population pressure have been cited as disproof of the Boserup model of agricultural change. In this paper we argue that the model is an efficient explanation for agricultural change but only when certain agroecological conditions are met: higher marginal input costs must be both necessary and sufficient to raise production. Elsewhere, conditions are non-Boserupian, and other kinds of responses should be expected. Wupatki, a prehistoric agricultural frontier, is a case in point. Boserupian intensification was mostly impossible here, and with population influx, farmers turned instead to sociopolitical means of protecting the land base for extensive agriculture. A contemporary example from Nigeria illustrates territorial control by groups consolidated along ethnic lines. The strategy of relying on increasing numbers and monumental construction to back up territorial claims had unintended long-term consequences that led to abandonment of Wupatki.
AB - Numerous cases of increasing population without fallow shortening or intensification without population pressure have been cited as disproof of the Boserup model of agricultural change. In this paper we argue that the model is an efficient explanation for agricultural change but only when certain agroecological conditions are met: higher marginal input costs must be both necessary and sufficient to raise production. Elsewhere, conditions are non-Boserupian, and other kinds of responses should be expected. Wupatki, a prehistoric agricultural frontier, is a case in point. Boserupian intensification was mostly impossible here, and with population influx, farmers turned instead to sociopolitical means of protecting the land base for extensive agriculture. A contemporary example from Nigeria illustrates territorial control by groups consolidated along ethnic lines. The strategy of relying on increasing numbers and monumental construction to back up territorial claims had unintended long-term consequences that led to abandonment of Wupatki.
KW - Agricultural change
KW - Political ecology
KW - Prehistoric Southwest
KW - Settlement patterns
KW - West Africa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033450337&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033450337&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
VL - 101
SP - 113
EP - 128
JO - American Anthropologist
JF - American Anthropologist
SN - 1548-1433
IS - 1
ER -