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Rural Sociology: Some Inter-American AspectsAuthor(s): Lowry NelsonReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Inter-American Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jul., 1967), pp. 323-338Published by: Center for Latin American Studies at the University of MiamiStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/164794 .

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LOWRY ELSONCenter for Advanced International StudiesUniversity of MiamiCoral Gables, Florida

RURALSOCIOLOGY:SOMEINTER-AMERICANSPECTS

IORIGIN OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY

R URALSOCIOLOGYad its originand growthas an academicdisci-pline in the United States. The other social sciences-includinggeneral sociology, economics, political science, anthropologyand historiography-were mainly imported from Europe and theBritish Isles. Rural Sociology,however,was a United States "export"both to Europeand to Latin America.This inverseprocessof diffusiondeservesa briefexplanation.Why

didRuralSociologynot originate n Europe?And, conversely,why didit take root in the United States?To answer the firstquestionwe maycite the followingfactors:1. Duringthe latterpartof the nineteenthcenturywhen the socialconditionsof ruralpeoplein the United States werecritical,Europewasrelativelystable.The peasantrevolts of the earliercenturieshad fadedintohistory; eudalism,n its worstfeaturesat least,was no more. Therewere still agrarianproblems,of course, includingland fragmentation,but theywerenot seriousenoughto causewidespreadunrest.Moreover,the restlessones were free to migrateto the New World.Europe, inshort,was in the happyconditionof being able to exportits "problem"mainly to the United States.

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JOURNAL OF INTER-AMERICAN STUDIES

2. As E. W. Hofstee has noted, Europeansociologywas "highlytheoreticaland often even philosophicaln character" nd "the kind ofruralsociologywhich has been developed n Americadid not fit intothe dominating onceptof Sociology n Europebefore 1940."1He alsoemphasized hatduringthe periodbetween the two WorldWars,com-municationwithAmericawas restricted,and social scientists n Europewerenot given encouragement uring hose years.And those were theyears-1920-1940-when the disciplineachieved its maturityin theUnited States.

Whydid the science originate n America?Here are some of thereasons;perhapsthere are others.1. The post-CivilWarperiodwas one of serious social disorgani-zation, particularly ritical for farm people. The former ConfederateStateswereeconomicallyprostrateand in politicalchaos;andtheywerelargelyagricultural.The North and West were experiencinghe settle-ment of the virgin andsby the hordesof immigrantsromEuropeandtheBritishIsles.The veryrapidityof settlement ouldonlybringchaos.2. The ethnic diversityof the settlersmade communicationandcommunity-buildingifficult.Language differencesand religioussec-tarianismmade the creation of the social institutions of education,religion and governmentextremelydifficult.3. The patternof scatteredsettlement,with each family home-steadingor purchasing160 acres, createdphysicalisolation,and alsodelayedand made difficult he developmentof community ife. To thisand otherfactorsmust be addedthe absence of rapidcommunication.The pioneerroadswerepassableonly in good weather.Therewere, ofcourse, no telephones, and mail service was often infrequentandunreliable.Here was, in short,a vast population n trouble.The peoplecriedout for help to the States and to the Federal Government. The ProtestantChurcheshad been competingwith each other to provide missionchurchesof their several denominationsn those rural neighborhoodswheretherewereseldomsufficientmembers or even one. In otherareas

therewere no churchesat all. Someleadingchurchmenwereamongthefirstto sense the "ruralproblem,"and wrote articlesand books aboutthe decline of the countryside.Many of the pioneerswere leavingtheI E. W. Hofstee, "Rural Sociology in Europe," Rural Sociology, 28 (December1961), 329-341.

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land,and therewas much talk aboutthe "ruralexodus."Otherleadersin the churchesbeganto searchfor facts about ruralconditions.Theymade surveysof social conditions,and used the facts to reorient theprogramsof the churches.These surveyswere one expressionof theempiricismof rural sociology, a tendencywhich has distinguishedtfromboth Europeanand Latin AmericanSociology.2

Among the North Americansociologists,it is necessaryto givecredit to FranklinH. Giddings or encouraginghree of his students omakefieldstudiesof communities or their Ph.D. theses,eventhoughhehimself must be classifiedas an "armchair" ociologist.3It is impossibleto assigna date or a year when Rural Sociologybegan.The first coursein whatmightbe called the subjectmatter,butlisted as "SocialConditionsn AmericanRuralLife"was offered at theUniversityof Chicagofor the School Year 1894-1895. The instructorwas ProfessorCharlesRichmondHenderson(1848-1915). He was pri-marily nterestedn social workrather han in ruralsociology.The firstman to bear the title "Instructor n Rural Sociology"was Kenyon L.Butterfield 1868-1935). He was appointed n 1902 at the Universityof Michigan.4

The AgriculturalCollegeswereslowto acceptruralsociologyas anacademicdisciplineeitherfor teachingor research,but especiallythelatter.TheCollegeof Agriculture f the Universityof Wisconsinwas thefirstto sponsorresearch. n 1911, HenryC. Taylor,who was in chargeof agriculturalconomics,employedCharlesJosiahGalpin(1864-1947)on half-timeto teach a coursein what was called Rural Life. He wasalso encouraged o make some field studies. From these studies camea numberof publications, he most importantof which was his nowclassic study of the ruralcommunity.5

2 In reality, general sociology in the United States as represented by its founders-Franklin H. Giddings, William Graham Summer, Albion W. Small, E. A. Ross, F. W.Blackmar-was not empirically inclined. These men were more philosophically oriented.3 James M. Williams (1876-) An American Town: A Sociological Study (NewYork: James Dempster Printing Co., 1906); Warren H. Wilson (1867-1937) QuakerHill (Brooklyn, New York: W. H. Wilson, 1907, private printing); Newell L. Sims(1878-1965), A Hoosier Village (New York: Columbia University, 1912).4 Butterfield held this position only one year until he became a College president.Although he spent his career in administrative work, he gave his continuous supportto the promotion of rural sociology and agricultural economics in the AgriculturalColleges of the country.5 C. J. Galpin, The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community (Madison, Wis.:The Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, Research Bulletin 34,1915).

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From these feeble beginningsrural sociology gained gradualac-ceptance.After World War I, expansionwas rapid, especially after1925 andthe passageby Congressof the PurnellAct. This Act allotted$60,000 annually o the AgriculturalExperimentStations n each State,with the proviso that such funds could be used for research inagriculturaleconomics, rural sociology and home economics.6

IIINITIAL STUDIES IN LATIN AMERICA BY NORTH AMERICANS

The first North American ruralsociologistto make a study in aLatin Americancountrywas CarleC. Zimmerman,who was a memberof the Commissionon CubanAffairsof the Foreign Policy Association.Thefield work was doneduring he summerof 1934.7 The Commissionwas composedof elevenmembers,each a specialist,and each assignedto the field of his specialty.Zimmerman eportedon "familyorgani-zation, the standardof living, and rural life." He reported he incomeand family size of 113 families "selectedto representthe layers ofCuban life from that of the cane worker throughthat of the fairlywealthycolono."These familiesclassifyinto threegroups:under$600(41); $601-$1,000 (25); and $1,001-$9,090 (47). The first grouphe refersto as "masses," he second"comfortable lass,"and the third"well-to-do."He discussedthe standard of living, range of incomes,diet (includingthe prices of food items comparedwith prices in theUnited States), seasonalemployment,unemployment,and presentedabudgetanalysisof the 113 families.A decade after Zimmerman's istoric study in Cuba, five ruralsociologistswere engagedby the Departmentof State and the Depart-mentof Agricultureo make "studiesof rural ife"in five LatinAmeri-can countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Mexico. Thedecisionto do this was promptedby the exigenciesof World War II.Many critical tems, like rubber, ute, and quinine,could no longerbeobtainedoutsidethe hemisphere.Rubberand quininewere indigenousbut required mmense aborto obtain. North Americansknew little ofthe backlands rom which manycritical items were to come, if at all.

It was time to find out somethingabout our neighborsto the South6 Space does not allow further historical treatment here. Those interested in thesubject are advised that the author has prepared a volume Rural Sociology. Its Rise andGrowth in the United States (in process of publication), University of Minnesota Press.7 Raymond Leslie Buell (ed) Problems of the New Cuba (New York: The ForeignPolicy Association, 1935).

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RURALSOCIOLOGY:OME NTER-AMERICANSPECTSwho lived outside the capitalcities. So it was argued,anyway,and thedecision was made.T. LYNNSMITHdrew the assignmentor Brazil.He spentthe yearfrom February1942 to February1943 gatheringdata in Brazil. Thematerialshe broughtback with him, supplementedby those availablein the United Stateswere worked overthoroughlyand becamethe basisfor his book, Brazil: People and Institutions (Baton Rouge: LouisianaStateUniversityPress, 1946). Two revisionsof this work haveappeared,in 1954 andin 1963, both the resultof severaladditional isitsto Brazil.

The book is arranged n seven sectionsas follows: Part I, Intro-duction;PartII, CulturalDiversity;PartIII, ThePeople;PartIV, Levelsand Standardsof Living;Part V, Relation of the People to the Land;PartVI, SocialInstitutions;PartVII, Conclusions.The book representsa firstattempt,and a successfulone, to providea "national" ociologyof Brazil.Especiallyvaluablefeatures are (a) the detailedpopulationanalysis;(b) the relationof the people to the land includingnot onlyland tenurebut the ways in which the land was dividedand described;and (c) the extensive use of Brazilian documents and historical works.The latter represents an enormous amount of reading, much of it in thePortuguese anguage.

Smith s the only one of the five authorsof book-lengthstudiesinthiswartime erieswho has continuedhis observations ndstudieswhichmadepossiblethe up-datingof his book in the two revisededitions.Inadditionto his classic study,he has publishedmany other articlesandwas joint authorof another book on Brazil.8Before discussing he works of the other four wartimestudies,itis appropriateo extend this brief expositionof Smith's work. For hehas by no means limited himselfto Brazil,but ratherhas paid detailedattention o severalother countries.This is especially rueof Colombia.Withthe collaborationof two membersof the staff of the MinistryofNationalEconomy,he made the firststudyin Latin Americaof a ruraltown-country community.9The method followed was that typicallyused in the United States to show the characteristics f the families,

8 T. Lynn Smith and Alexander Marchant, Brazil: Portrait of Half a Continent(New York: The Dryden Press, 1951). His textbook, The Sociology of Rural Life hasbeen translated into both Portuguese and Spanish.9 T. Lynn Smith, Justo Diaz Rodriguez and Luis Roberto Garcia, Tabio: Estudiode la Organizacitn Social Rural (Bogota: Ministerio de la Economia Nacional, 1944).The English version, Tabio: A Study in Rural Social Organization (U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, 1945).

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bothtown andcountry, heirinterrelationships,evels of living,etc. Thequestionnaire sed in the studywas publishedas an appendixand wasthe inspiration or at least one Latin American student to make asimilarstudy in anotherarea.10In additionto this pioneer study inColombia,Smithhas recentlycompleted he first volumeof a projectedthree-volumework on Colombia.

Smith capitalizedon the census of the Americas made at mid-century. By means of an award from the John Simon GuggenheimFoundation,he touredthe variouscountries,obtained advancereportsof the censusresultsand prepareda summarywhich was published n1961.11Meantimehe had other ironsin the fire. Monographs,ournalarticles,and books on phasesof Latin Americaappear n a stream.'2It is fair to say that Smith has been more influential n LatinAmericathan any other ruralsociologist n the UnitedStates.In addi-tion to his numerouspublications,he has mademany visits to variouscountries,has attended numerous nternationalmeetingsand nationalconferences,andmanystudents rom Latin Americahavecome to studywith him.CARLC. TAYLORwas in Argentinafrom March, 1942 to April,1943, a periodalmost denticalwith Smith's tayin Brazil.The methodsof the two men weresimilar.Theydependedon readingavailablebookson the country,the study of public documents,personalobservationwhiletravelling hroughouthe countries,and numerouspersonal nter-views with individuals n all ranks and classes of life and in all partsof the countries.As Taylorputs it in the Prefaceto his book: "Theauthor ravelledabout20,000 miles andvisited all the majortype-farm-ing areasof the Argentine.In addition to interviewingmore than 120farm familiesandpersonsrepresenting ll levels of the farmpopulation,he talkedwith local newspapereditors,leadersof farm organizations,businessmen, chool teachers,ministers,provincialand federalgovern-ment officialswho lived and workedin ruralareas ...."13 The book

10 Orlando Fals-Borda used the instrument with appropriate modifications for in-terviewing 71 families, the results of which formed the body of his Peasant Society inthe Colombian Andes (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1955).11 Latin American Population Studies (Gainesville: University of Florida Press,1961).12 Examples: Current Social Trends and Problems in Latin America, Latin Amer-ican Monographs 1 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1957); Agrarian Reformin Latin America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965).13 Carl C. Taylor, Rural Life in Argentina (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univer-sity Press, 1948). Taylor has described the work of these five studies in his article "EarlyRural Sociological Research in Latin America," Rural Sociology, 25 (March 1960), 1-8.

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includes17 chapterswith the followingtitles: Scenesin VariousType-FarmingAreasin Argentina(two chapters);The People of Argentina;Immigrants nd TheirInfluence;ArgentineFarmers and Farm People;Historyand Evolutionof ArgentinaAgricultureand Rural Life; TheSettlingandPeoplingof the Country;Ownership ndDistribution f theLand; Agriculturaland CulturalRegions; Rural Isolation and Com-munication;RuralLocalityGroupsandCommunities;Levels and Stan-dardsof Living;The FarmHome andFamily;Progressof Colonizationand Resettlement;Enlightenment nd Reform;Farmer'sOrganizationsandFarmers'Publics n Argentine;andThe Farmers'Place in ArgentineCulture.

NATHANL. WHETTENwas assigned to Mexico where he wasattached o the UnitedStatesEmbassyfrom 1942 to 1945. He enjoyedtwo advantages ver the othersof thisgroup n thathe was ableto spendthreeyearsinsteadof only one, and as one born and reared n Mexicohad a readycommandof the Spanish anguage.His reporton the three-year study appeared n 1948, the same year as Taylor'sArgentina.'4Exceptfor a shortconclusion, he book consistsof four principalpartsas follows: I, The People of Mexico and their GeographicalEnviron-ment;II, TheRelationof Peopleto the Land;III, Standards ndLevelsof Living;IV, Social Institutions.This carefullydocumentedand wellwrittenbook will long remainan indispensable eferenceon Mexico.While he was making his study of Mexico, Whetten obtainedpermission o spendfive months n 1944 in the neighboring ountryof

Guatemala.Later,by meansof a grant rom the Guggenheim oundationhe spent the summersof 1952 and 1955 in the country.In additionthere were severalbrief visits, and meantimea continuouscorrespon-dence was maintainedwith his Guatemalancontacts.The outcome ofthis work was a book-lengthreport.15The organizationof the subjectmatter ollowsessentially hat of RuralMexico. His methodwas similarto that of Taylorand Smith.OLENE. LEONARDpent two years in Bolivia in the 1940's. He hadtwo responsibilities,one as administratorof cooperative agriculturalprogramsand the other as an investigatorof the sociologyof Bolivia.

14 NathanL. Whetten,RuralMexico (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,1948).15 NathanL. Whetten,Guatemala New Haven:Yale UniversityPress,1961).

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The latter work resulted in a book-lengthreport.16 n the book, hecovers such subjectsas regionaldiversity,populationdistributionandcomposition, ertilityandmortality, mmigration ndinternalmigration,man-land elations, ocialinstitutions,andlevelsand standards f living.

The writerdrewthe assignmento "studyrurallife in the Carib-bean"and spentthe year from September1945 to September1946 inthe area. It is doubtful f anyonein the Officeof ForeignAgriculturalRelationshad any clear idea of the complexityand impossibility f theassignment; ertainly he writerdid not. It was only afterhe arrived nCuba and began his preliminaryexaminationof his charge that herealizedhis own incompetenceo fulfill t. He decidedto concentrate nCuba.He enjoyedat least one majoradvantageover his colleagues nthe othercountries:the availabilityof reliableand recent censusdata.The resultsof the 1943 Censushadjustbecomeavailable,and there hadbeen four previouscensusesin 1899, 1907, 1919, and 1931. The firsttwo were made underthe directionof the U.S. Bureau of the Census,and the third, with its active cooperation.

However,the majorundertakingwas the schedulesurveyof 742families in 11 local areas representing ypes-of-farming nd to someextent,land tenurepatterns.Also, the Cubangovernmentn 1946 tookan agriculturalensusunder hecapabledirectionof Ing.CastoFerragut,who had also assistedwith the surveyof peasantfamilies. The prelimi-naryresultsof the agriculturalensuswere forwarded o me so that Ihad them for use in the preparationof the book.17Extra space has been devoted to these five studiesbecause theywerepioneereffortson the partof ruralsociologistsandwere designedas comprehensivetudiesof the countries nvolved.Other rural sociolo-gists have made numerousstudies in restricted ocalities. CharlesP.Loomis, although nvolvedwith administrative uties in the OfficeofForeign AgriculturalRelations in Washingtonduringthe war period,

16 Olen E. Leonard, Bolivia: Land, People and Institutions (Washington, D.C.:The Scarecrow Press, 1952). Previous to the publication of the book, Leonard had madea number of local studies in Bolivia as follows: Canton Chullpas: A SocioeconomicStudy in the Cochabamba Valley of Bolivia (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Foreign Agriculture Report No. 27, 1947-also published in Spanish inLa Paz by the Ministry of Agriculture); Santa Cruz: A Socioeconomic Study of an Areain Bolivia, publication as above. Also during his stay in Bolivia he was permitted tovisit and make a sociological study in Ecuador. See his Pichilingue: A Study of RuralLife in Coastal Ecuador (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, ForeignAgriculture Report No. 17, 1947).17 Lowry Nelson, Rural Cuba (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1950).See also the author's "Cuban Paradoxes," in A. Curtis Wilgus (ed.) The Caribbean atMid-Century (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1951).

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was able to make some early studies in Latin America. In 1944 hewasappointed hairman f thedepartmentf sociologyandanthropologyat MichiganState University.In this position he was able to followmore intensivelyhis interest n Latin America.'8

Perhapsthe most importantwork which Loomis did in and forrural sociology in Latin America was derived from the relationshipwhichhe establishedwith the Inter-Americannstitutefor AgriculturalSciences ocated in CostaRica. Through his cooperationLatin Ameri-can studentsand staff attended and taught at MichiganState, whilestudentsand stafffromMichiganStateworked andtaughtat Turrialba.Turrialbabecamean experimentalaboratoryn which advancedmeth-odologyin sociometricswas utilized n the theoretical rameworkof thesocial system.'9In the late 1950's Loomis and colleagues at Michigan StateUniversityundertooka major study of the populationand associatedproblemsof the United States-Mexicanborder.Loomiswas directorofthe projectwhich was supportedby grantsfrom the CarnegieCorpor-ation and the United States Public Health Service. The area coveredincludedsix MexicanStatesadjacent o the International oundaryandfive southwesterntatesof the United Statesfor whichdata on Spanishsurnameswere available.20GeorgeW. Hill in the early 1950's took leave of his position n theDepartment f RuralSociologyat theUniversityof Wisconsin o becomea consultant to the government of Venezuela. Although it was

18 A partial bibliography of his works: "Extension work in Tingo Maria, Peru,"Applied Anthropology, 3 (December 1943), 18-34; (with Wilson Longmore) "HealthNeeds and Potential Colonization Areas of Peru," Inter-American Economic Affairs, 3(Summer 1949), 71-93; "Trial Use of Public Opinion Survey Procedures in DeterminingImmigration and Colonization Policies for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru," Social Forces,26 (October 1947), 30-35; (with Reed M. Powell) "Class status in rural Costa Rica,"in Theo R. Crevenna, Materiales para el-estudio de la clase media en la America Latina(Washington: Pan American Union, Vol. V, 1951).19 The results of much of the research are reported in the volume Turrialba:Social Systems and the Introduction of Change, edited by Loomis, Julio O. Morales,Roy A. Clifford, and Olen Leonard (Glencoe: Free Press, 1953). Loomis also renderedan important service, assisted by Olen Leonard, in editing and publishing Readings inLatin American Social Organization and Institutions (East Lansing: Michigan StateCollege Press, 1953).20 The population characteristics, constituting one phase of this extensive studyis reported in J. Allan Beegle, Harold F. Goldsmith, and Charles P. Loomis, "Demo-graphic Characteristics of the United States-Mexican Border," Rural Sociology, 25(March 1960), 105-162. A further report on this project appeared in June of thesame year. See Charles C. Cumberland, The United States-Mexican Border: A SelectiveGuide to the Literature of the Region, Supplement to Rural Sociology, Vol. 25, No. 2(June 1960), pp. x, 236.

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intended to be a temporary appointment, it continued until 1962.During that period Hill organized and conducted rural studies in whichhe involved local individuals who received training in research methods.He also assisted in getting a department of sociology established in theUniversity of Caracas.21

There is hardly a country in Latin America in which North Ameri-can rural sociologists have not made one or more studies. Space doesnot permit discussion of all of them, but the work of Thomas Ford inPeru and John V. D. Saunders in Brazil deserve mention for theirbook-length studies;22and others for localized research utilizing methodsrecently developed in the United States.

Frederick C. Fliegel of Pennsylvania State University spent a yearat the University of Rio Grande do Sul at Porto Alegre. He collabor-ated with Brazilian colleagues in studies of communication amongfarmers in a county near Porto Alegre.23Earlier in the same State of Rio Grande do Sul, Thomas LucienBlair, of Michigan State University, also made a study of communication

as related to class structure. The study included 20 agricultural laborers,20 workers in rice processing plants, and 10 factory office workers.Three sources of information were compared as to effectiveness in thedifferent occupational groups: mass media, social visiting, and contactwith persons from outside the area.24Bert Ellenbogen of the University of Minnesota, formerly at CornellUniversity, has done work in Venezuela and in Brazil. His majorresearch in Brazil had to do with The Changing Role of Woman in

Brazil: Its Implications for Development. A preliminary report "Rural21 Among the individual papers published by Hill and his Venezuelan associatesare the following: George W. Hill and Gregorio Beltran, "Land Settlement in Venezuelawith Special Reference to the Turen Project," Rural Sociology, 17 (September 1952),229-236; with Gregorio Beltran and Cristmo Marino, "Social Welfare and Land Tenurein the Agrarian Reform Program of Venezuela," Land Economics, 28 (February 1952),17-29. Anibal Buitron, Exodo rural en Venezuela (Washington: Pan American Union,1955). The two most important works of Hill in Venezuela are El campesino venezolano(1959) and El Estado Sucre: sus recursos humanos (Caracas: Universidad Central deVenezuela).22 Thomas Ford, Man and Land in Peru (Gainesville: University of Florida Press,1955), John V. D. Saunders, Differential Fertility in Brazil (University of Florida Press,1958).23 Frederick C. Fliegel, "Literacy and Exposure to Instrumental Information amongFarmers in Southern Brazil," Rural Sociology, 31 (March 1966), 15-28; with FernandoC. Oliveira Receptividade a ideias novas e exodo rural numa area colonial (PortoAlegre: Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, Estudos e Trabalhos no. 14, 1963).24 Thomas Lucien Blair, "Social Structure and Information Exposure in RuralBrazil," Rural Sociology, 25 (March 1960), 65-75.

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Developmentn Brazil: Perspectivesand Paradoxes,"was published nCornell InternationalAgriculturalSeries, Ithaca, New York, No. 9,1965. He is editorof a book,ChangeandDevelopment n the HighlandAreas of Latin America, due for release by Cornell UniversityPressearly in 1968. III

RURAL SOCIOLOGICALRESEARCH BY LATIN AMERICAN SCHOLARSSeveral Brazilian students were attractedto the field of ruralsociology through the influence of T. Lynn Smith's work while atLouisianaStateUniversitysoon after the publicationof his book andthen at VanderbiltUniversitywhen he became directorof the BrazilianInstitute,and finallyat the Universityof Florida.Also, John H. Kolbof the University of Wisconsin, who taught courses at the RuralUniversitynearRio, influencedseveral students to undertakegraduatestudy in rural sociology under his guidance.Among these are JoaoGontalves de Sousa, Mario Paes de Barros, Edgard VasconcellosdeBarros,and Fernando C. Oliveiro.Gongalvesde Sousa and Paes deBarroshave both been involvedmainlyin administrativework both inBrazil and in the Pan AmericanUnion. Oliveiro s engaged n researchin ruralsociologyat the Universityof Rio Grandedo Sul, PortoAlegre(see footnote23). Vasconcellosde Barros is connectedwith the RuralUniversityin Minas Gerais.25The studentsof Smithhave been somewhatmoreproductiven thefieldof research.Two of the older ones are J. V. FreitasMarcondesandJosd Artur Rios. Both have published works individually and incollaborationwith others.26Both reflect their teacher's interest andtechnicalcompetence n populationanalysis.In passing,mentionmust be madeof a briefhistoryof the develop-ment of ruralsociology n Brazilby RodolphoStavenhage.27tavenhage,

25 The influence of his Wisconsin training is clearly manifest in his brief researchnote, "Defining the Boundaries of a Brazilian Rural Community," Rural Sociology, 22(September 1957), 270.26 See J. V. Freitas Marcondes, "Mutirao or Mutual Aid," Rural Sociology, 13(December 1948), 374-384; with Paul H. Price, "A Demographic Analysis of the Popu-lation of Sio Paulo," Social Forces, 27 (May 1949), 381-389; with T. Lynn Smith, "TheCaipira of the Paraitinga Valley, Brazil," Social Forces, 31 (October 1952), 47-53; JoseArtur Rios, "Assimilation of Emigrants from the Old South in Brazil," Social Forces26 (December 1947), 145-152; Clase e Familia no Brasil," Digest Economico, SaoPaulo; "The Cities of Brazil," in T. Lynn Smith and Alexander Marchant, Brazil: Por-trait of Half a Continent.27 "Rural Sociological Research in Brazil," Rural Sociology, 29 (June 1964), 231-236.

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who is generalsecretaryof the Latin American Centerfor Researchin the Social Sciences,Rio de Janeiro,actuallydeals almost entirelywith researchby anthropologists.mportantas their work is, it doesnot representwork by professionalrural sociologists, which is thesubjectof this article.Onemustreadilyadmit thatanthropologistsaveaccomplishedmoredetailed ocal studiesof communitieshanhaveruralsociologists.Also, most of the studies cited by Stavenhageare thosedone by North Americans.In connectionwith the history of ruralsociologyin Brazil it is important o note also the reportof Ray E.Wakeley, of Iowa State University, for the Food and AgricultureOrganization.28

Wakeleyfound practicallyno interest in rural sociology in theinstitutionsof higherlearning. Only some of the governmentagenciesexpressed nterest.However,since 1952 the teachingof ruralsociologyhas been introducedn some of the higher nstitutionsalthoughprogressis slow due to the inelasticityof the curriculum, articularlyn the fieldof agriculture.The fact that general sociology is enjoying growingrecognitionmay contributeas well to the spreadof ruralsociologyinthe college curricula.29An interesting pplicationof the experimentalmethod n the studyof social problems in Latin America was made by Sakari Sariola.Althoughthe studywas made in Bolivia,Sariola s associatedwith theCentroInteramericano e Educaci6nRural in Rubin, Venezuela.Hisstudy involved a comparisonof attitudesbetween an "experimental"groupof peasantswho had had experience n a new colony in SantaCruz and a "control"and matched group from the same area inCochabambaValley who had had no such experience.30ManuelAlers-Montalvos a productof the MichiganState Uni-versity-Inter-Americannstituteof AgriculturalSciences cooperation.Subsequent o receivinghis Ph.D. degreehe elected to remain in theUnitedStates and is Professorof Sociologyat ColoradoStateUniver-sity. Reflectingthe theory of the social systems approachof whichCharlesP. Loomis is the leading exponentamong rural sociologists,

28 Ray E. Wakeley, "Rural Sociology: Teaching and Research in Brazil," Rome:Food and Agriculture Organization, 1952 (mimeo).29 The most important center for the study of the social sciences, notably anthro-pology, sociology, and political science, is the Escola de Sociologia e Politica, in SaoPaulo; many field studies have been made under its sponsorship, mostly by anthro-pologists. It also publishes Sociologia, since 1939.30 Sakari Sariola, "A Colonization Experiment in Bolivia," Rural Sociology, 25(March 1960), 76-90.

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RURAL SOCIOLOGY: OMEINTER-AMERICANASPECTS

Alers-Montalvomade a studyin Peruin which he appliedthe "systemanalysis."Earlier,he also made a studyof a CostaRicanvillagefollow-ing the same theoretical ramework. n both these studies the emphasiswas placed on the problemof "directedchange."He was head of thesocial science work at the Institute at Turrialba.He also is authorofa textbook in ruralsociologyin the Spanishlanguagewhich was usedat the Institute,and elsewhere in Latin America.31

Considerablenterest in ruralsociologyhas been evident in Uru-guay.Two textbooksappeared n the 1950's, one of whichby Aldo E.Solari was very much influencedby the work of P. A. Sorokin andCarle C. Zimmerman, Principles of Rural-Urban Sociology (1929) andby T. Lynn Smith, The Sociology of Rural Life. Solari used Uruguayanmaterials as far as possible. Since one of the serious needs in LatinAmerica s for ruralsociologytextbooksbased on local researchratherthan that of the United States, this book is especiallyimportant.Twoyears after Solari publishedhis book another appearedin 1955 byDaniel D. Vidart, of the Ministryof Agriculture.Less scientificallyoriented than Solari, it is popularlywritten.32

A thirdbook is worthmention,although t does not carrythe word"rural" n the title. However,it is dedicatedto the developmentof a"national"sociology for Uruguay, and contains a chapter on ruralsociology as well as on the other branches of sociology.33In Mexico,Lucio Mendietay Nuiez, directorof the InstituteforSocialInvestigations, f theUniversidadNacionalAutonomade Mexico,has conductedfield studies and has sought to promote teaching and

research n the ruralfield.One of his significantield studieshad to dowith comparativeuccess of three communitieson land reformprojectsin Mexico.34This study, amongothers, is part of the programof theInstituto,which was founded in 1930, but reorganizedunderMendietay Nufiez in 1939. One of the areas in which he then proposedto do31 Manuel Alers-Montalvo, "Social Systems Analysis of Supervised AgriculturalCredit in an Andean Community," Rural Sociology, 25 (March 1960), 51-64; "CulturalChange in a Costa Rican Village," Human Organization, 15 (Winter 1957), 2-7.32 Aldo E. Solari, Sociologia rural nacional (Montevideo: Universidad de Mon-tevideo, 1953); Daniel D. Vidart, La vida rural uruguaya (Montevideo: Ministerio deGanaderia y Agricultura, Departmento de Sociologia Rural, Publicaci6n 1, 1955).33 Carlos M. Rama, Ensayo de sociologia uruguaya (Montevideo: Editorial Me-dina, 1957). As a textbook in general sociology it should be an important influence inthe development of the field.34 Lucio Mendieta y Nfifiez et al. Efectos de la reforma agraria en tres comunidadesde la Republica Mexicana (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de MExico, 1960).

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researchwas in regardto the ejidos. In his reportpublished n 1951,the Director said:It is proposedto investigate he social and economic charac-ter of the ejido throughout he entire territoryof the country,looking for the conditions of diversetypes of ejidos: irrigatedlands, seasonal (dry) land, livestock, forestry; by individualoperations,collectives. .. 35

Amonghis other servicesto sociologyand to ruralsociologywasthefoundingandeditingof the RevistaMexicanade Sociologia n 1939;and as the sponsor and publisherof the proceedingsof the SixthNationalCongressof Sociologywhich was devotedto the theme:RuralSociology.36At this congresshe deliveredtwo papersentitled"Impor-tancia de la sociologiarural",and ",Que es la sociologiarural?".An outstandingdevelopment,not alone in rural sociology butsociologyin general,has takenplace in Colombiaunder the able andenergetic leadershipof Orlando Fals-Borda. When he came to theUniversityof Minnesotato begin his graduatework, he broughtwithhim a bundle of schedulescontaining nformationon 71 familieslivingin a neighborhood ear theplacewherehe was employedby a construc-tion companywhich was buildinga reservoirdam.Entirelyon his owninitiative he visited each family, some of them several times. (Asalready noted-footnote 10-he used a schedule with modificationswhichwas developedby T. Lynn Smith et al. in the studyof Tabio.)The data when analyzed constitutedthe basis for his M.A. thesis.Subsequently,he went to the Universityof Florida where he workedwith T. Lynn Smith.With aid from a GuggenheimAward,he made a

studyof man-landrelations n anotherarea of Colombiawhichbecamethe basis for his dissertation or the Ph.D. degree.37It would not be possiblehere to give in detail the excellentworkhe has accomplished.He began his career in his own country asadministratorf technicalaffairs n the Ministryof Agriculture.Whilehe was in this position, he successfullyundertook an experiment ncommunitydevelopmentamongthe peasantsof Saucio,the community

35 Lucio Mendieta y Ndfiez, Memoria del Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales dela Universidad Nacional de Mixico 1939-1951 (M6xico: Imprenta Universitaria, 1952),p. 12.36 Congreso Nacional de Sociologia, VI, 1955 (M6xico: Instituto de InvestigacionesSociales, Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de M6xico, 1956).37 Orlando Fals-Borda, El hombre y la tierra en Boyacd: bases sociol6gicas ehist6ricas para una reforma agraria (Bogota: Ediciones Documentos Colombianos, 1957),259 pp.

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RURALSOCIOLOGY:OME NTER-AMERICANSPECTSwhich he had studied earlier.38Following his service in the Ministry ofAgriculture, he was invited to the University at Bogota to organizethe department of sociology. Later the growth of the work was suchthat it was made a School of Sociology in the University, with Fals-Bordaas the Dean. He very early established a publication program in theform of a monograph series. In short, Bogota has become one of theimportant centers in the development of sociology in Latin America.

IVCONCLUSION

It is more than half a century since the discipline of rural sociologywas planted and took root in the United States. It is a quarter of acentury since the "invasion" of Latin America by the first five ruralsociologists who wrote book-length reports on rural life in the countriesto which they were assigned. Numerous additional studies have beenmade in Latin America since the War by sociologists from the UnitedStates. A considerable number of Latin American students have cometo North American universities to study rural sociology and some havebeen able to return to their countries and do some research on theirown account. The fact is, however, that the development has been slow.Very few of the higher institutions of learning have allowed rural sociolo-gists to gain a foothold in the tradition-bound curricula.No doubt part of the explanation of the differential between theacceptance of rural sociology in the United States and Latin Americais found in their different social science traditions, especially that ofsociology. Latin American sociology has been predominantly philo-sophical while that in the United States has been empirically oriented.In the former, social investigation is down-graded, while in the latter,it is the central approach.39 Gino Germani notes the influence in LatinAmerica of the German philosophical school of thinkers but is optimisticthat "investigation" of the social reality is going to be more widelyaccepted. He notes that Brazil is an exception among the Latin Ameri-can countries. This is true to a degree. We noted above the importanceof the Escola de Sociologia e Politica in Sao Paulo. Yet the rural

38 The full account of this experiment is told in Orlando Fals-Borda (with thecollaboration of Nina Chaves and Ismael Mirquez), Accidn comunal en una veredacolombiana (Bogota: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Departamento de Sociologia,monografias sociologicas, 4, 1960).39 In this regard, see Gino Germani, "Una decada de discusiones metodologicas",Ciencias Sociales, Vol. II, Nos. 11 and 12 (October-December 1951) Pan AmericanUnion, Washington, D.C.

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338 JOURNAL F INTER-AMERICANTUDIESuniversities of Brazil, where it would seem logical to accept ruralsociology as a discipline, are reluctant to do so. Part of the trouble liesin the rigidity of the curricula made so by legal enactment.

Still, there are some examples to indicate that sociology, as anempirical science, is becoming more widely accepted. And it must beemphasized that unless general sociology is accepted, rural sociology isunlikely to develop by itself. The two fields are no longer to be regardedas separate; they are one and the same. The work of Fals-Borda inColombia, of Gino Germani in Argentina, Lucio Mendieta y NifuneznMexico; along with the Escola in Sao Paulo, all seem well established.Lately at the University of Rio Grande do Sul, the work in sociologyhas been expanded under the leadership of Laudelino T. Medeiros, andat Recife under Heraldo Pessoa Souto Maior. These together with thosepreviously mentioned and perhaps others, who have not come to theattention of the writer, provide some grounds for an optimistic outlook.

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Rural Sociology Some Inter-American Aspects - mención