REGIONS OF REFUGE AND THE AGRARIAN QUESTION - PEASANT AGRICULTURE ANDPLANTATION FORESTRY CHILEAN ARAUCANIA

The geography of peasant survival under capitalism is the product of e cological, social, economic and demographic processes in combination. Peasant agriculture survives when those processes remain gradual; when they accelerate, the equilibrium of peasant societies breaks down. So uth-central Chile, long a region of refuge for peasant agriculture and indigenous culture, is now under pressure from the spread of pine pla ntations. Three roads are emerging among the peasantry: displacement, proletarianization in situ, or the persistence of peasant agriculture. The final section considers the prospects for peasant participation i n the forest industry as independent producers. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.