The Uses of Inter-Village Feuding

A conspicuous feature of village relations in Oaxaca are long, bitter, and often violent feuds over land. This paper briefly describes the basis for conflict: the land tenure system, the moral nature of village land claims, and the recurrent episodes of violence which occur. The paper concludes by suggesting that intervillage feuds serve useful functions for the central government. They act as revenue-raising devices, effectively draining surplus from the villages and into the pockets of officials, lawyers, and others. Even more important, they force villages to be dependent on the central government for arbitration of their difficulties, and thus serve as a means of maintaining control over a subject peasant population.