英国农业革命与家庭农场的崛起

English Agricultural Revolution and the Family Farms

一、英国农业革命研究的焦点 世界发达国家现代化的历史进程向人们提供一条重要的经验:由于农业在前工业社会具有经济主导性,一个国家的现代化就不可避免要从农业变革入手,必须有“农业的先期或至少伴随的发展”。①英国的现代化模式正是一个例证。农业革命率先开始,通过对土地关系、生产组织和耕作技术的改造,大幅度地提高农业劳动生产率,保证了英国现代化的全方位展开。

From the 'Bottom Up' perspective, the article re-examines the English Agricultural Revolution and the contributions made by the English Peasantry in the 15th-18th centuries, on the basis of the analysis of Eatate Surveys. The Agricultual Revolution was to reform the rural society, in particular the peasantry, who was transformed into family farmers instead of being destroyed. The family farms held on copyhold or leasehold and from 5 to 100 acres in size, constituted the majority of the units of production, and hence made major contributions to the rise of agricultural productivity. Changes in the landholding forms, which made the rural population and land resources best ballanced, proved to be the most crucial key to the modernization of the rural society.