イギリス占領期におけるエジプト地主制の確立
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概要
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In nineteenth century Egypt two strata of landlords emerged. One stratum consisted of the big absentee landlords, the other comprising the shaykhs that were middle or small landlords who lived in villages. We consider that this dual dominance by landlords over the agricultural sector characterizes the structure of Egyptian landlordism, which hitherto has not sufficiently been analyzed. In this article we examine the changes in the socio-economic position of these two social strata respectively. The big landlords had tried to expand their landed properties by means of mortgage credit which was developed by the inflow of foreign capital in the period of British Occupation. In that process their interests had been directed towards more commercial land management. The development of the izba system, a variety of plantation, which was the prevailing mode of exploitation on the big land-lords' estates was closely interrelated with the rapid growth of the monocultural production of cotton. Meanwhile, the shaykhs controlled agricultural labour forces through traditional social relations in the "village community". At the same time, through the sublease of rented lands from the big landlords, the shaykhs took up a position which played a key role in the efficient management of tenant lands. In the "village community" led by its shaykhs the more intensive use of existing land brought about the expansion of cotton cultivation. It thus followed that a structure had been formed in which two strata of landlords filled their own respective characteristic positions and played their own respective roles. This transformation in rural Egypt was accelerated by a series of British agrarian policies. They were principally the reform in land taxation, the sale of state landed properties and the improvement of the irrigation systems. One of causes of the rapid increase in the inflow of private foreign capital which was motivated by the commercial production and export of cotton (being a world commodity) can be ascribed to these British policies. Thus Egyptian landlordism was transformed into a structure that was capable of adapting itself to not only internal factors but also external ones. It was this transformation that made the dominance of landlords stabilize.
- 政治経済学・経済史学会の論文
- 1985-10-20