INDUSTRIAL INVOLUTION IN SARDINIA’

bv ALEX WEINGROD

Ben Gurion Univcniry of rhc Ncgcv. k r Shcba. lsncl

1 THEPROBLEM

Sardinia is, by all estimates, a chronically poor and underdeveloped corner of Italy (and more broadly, of Europe). Sparsely populated, rocky and lacking in natural resources, Sardinia has for centuries been a dependent “backwater” region. During the past four or five decades, however, numerous efforts have been made to industrialize the island and to make it more integrally a part of mainland Italy. Recent development projects include, among others, sizeable investments in river control and irrigation, the construction of two oil refineries, several moderate sized industrial zones, and an extensive land reform village program.

Yet herein lies the problem: not all of Sardinia can be thought to have become industrial or for that matter to be “developing”. For example, the interior shepherding region has been the least influenced, and in most other zones as well the transformation has at best been limited. Of course, this is neither unexpected nor surprising: the fact that economic growth is often an uneven process has long been recognized2. Wha t is more interesting and problematic, however, is the type of change that has taken place. Several new economic niches, and in particular the public bureaucracies and industrial linked service sector, have grown rapidly in the two postwar decades; indeed, the emerging Sardinian pattern can be described as one in which limited development in commercial agriculture and local industry has been coupled with the much more rapid growth and spread of the bureaucracies and certain services. Moreover, the process of change has been one in which the pattern has been internally elaborated rather then changing structural-

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ly; the developmental trend, in other words, has been to add to or to complicate the already existing systems. Hence i t can be argued that the industrialization of certain key regions of Italy (the North and Center) has lead to an uneven and strikingly different process of change in a marginal region (namely, Sardinia).

How can this process best be understood? Three different theories may be suggested: dualism, stages of development, and involution. The meanings as well as the explanatory power of the three are briefly considered below.

1. Dualism Theories of dualistic development have been proposed by, among others, Boeke, Eckhaus, Hirschman and Lutzj. Dualism refers to the fact that different regions within a nation may develop in structurally different ways; more particularly, this theory contrasts the peasant with the industrial segments of a society. According to Boeke’s original formulation dualism was caused by cultural factors; dual societies emerged since their segments were based upon contrasting cultural assumptions, and they persisted since cultural vaiues change slowly if at

Recent theories of dualism emphasize economic rather than cultural features. Thus Hirschman has shown that the “airplane and mule” can co-exist since the factor proportions of capital and labor remain unequal in different regions or economic sectors. Fundamentally different societies develop around these contrasts, and they are likely to remain separate and “dual” for considerable periods of times. In the Sardinian case, one supposes, the contrasting segments might be explained in respect to both cultural and economic factors (cultural values plus the absence of an industrial infrastructure, for example).

Theories of dualism can be criticized on several grounds. First, their assumptions are by no means convincing or adequate. As Geertz has shown, Boeke’s dualism is better understood as the consequence of colonial practice rather than of differences in cultural values, just as the economists’ theory of dualism presumes a political regime that en- courages or is content with dualistic wage or capital rates6. Second, the notion that the peasant segment will change in the direction of the industrial one does not indicate theprocesJ ofchange that takes place. To suggest several possibilities, the changes may be evolutionary in char- acter, or they may be involutionary. Dualistic theory does not provide a means of understanding these or other processes.

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2. Stages of dwelopmenl

Incomplete or uneven industrialization has also been explained by “stage theory”. According to this view industrialization is a historic process during which a society moves through successive stages; for example, traditional-transitional-modern, or, alternatively, under- developed-developing-developed7. A society such as Sardinia would be termed “transitional” or “developing”. Set in between the old and the new, a “transitional society” is one which combines elements of both but which is tending towards modernity.

The unilinear and seemingly inevitable direction of change is the major flaw in this theory. There is no reason to suppose that societies move neatly through stages. O n the contrary, what is termed a “tran- sitional stage” may in fact be a long term trend*. In the case in point, for example, certain key features have persisted for more than a century. The problem is to analyze the trend, not to identify the supposed stages.

3 . Involution The concept of involution was originally coined by Alexander Gol- denweiser. Wha t attracted Goldenweiser’s attention was that under certain circumstances cultural patterns become elaborated “from within”: that is, involution defined a kind of change in which a given pattern persisted through time yet underwent continual internal change.

”The patrern precludes the use of another unit or of other units, but it is not inimical to play with the unit or units. The incvitablc rcsulr is progressive complication, variety within uniformiry, virtuosity within monorony. This is involutiOn9.”

This concept was later taken up by Clifford Geertz in his study of Indonesia en titled Agricuftural Inuofution. Geertz used the concept to characterize changes that took place in rural Java during most of the nineteenth century. Briefly described, the trend was one in which an explosive population growth was incorporated within the traditional sawah, or wet rice, system. As rice production climbed, so too did the population:

“Wer rice agriculture, with its extraordinary ability to mainrain levels of marginal labor productivity by always managing to work one more man in without a serious fall in pcr capita income, soaked up almost the whole of the additional population ... I t is this ultimately sclfdefeating process rhar I have proposcd ro call ‘agricultural involutionJ0’ ”

Moreover, Geertz indicated that the “involution of the productive process in Indonesia was matched and supported by a similar involution

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in rural family life, social stratification, political organization, religious practice, as well as in the “folk culture” value system”.” In short, Geertz’s involution defines a trend in which the pattern remains firm while at the same time exhibiting vigorous internal elaboration.

Involution is the most appropriate concept for our purpose. That is, the trend in Sardinia’s post-war development can best be thought of as the maintenance or establishment of a pattern and its subsequent complication and elaboration. The process can briefly be outlined as follows. Industrial involution refers to the emergence of industrial- linked patterns within marginal agrarian regions. These are regions that are within the orbit of major industrial centers, but which have not themselves become “industrial”. Their economy is generally labor in- tensive, and the local “industries” tend to be small and not completely mechanized. Such a region imports industrially-produced consumer goods, however, and hence it is linked to the major national industrial centers. Moreover, government sponsored economic development activities also are introduced, and hence the scope and relative import- ance of the public bureaucracies also grows. The major point is that a progressive complication and multiplication takes place within the newly established patterns. Thus some of the agricultural systems, the government bureaucracies, and various consumer linked services be- come increasingly elaborated from within, although their overall shape does not change. At the same time, however, within certain limited sectors structural changes may also be taking place. However, these tendencies are not powerful enough to alter the overall trend, and hence the process of change is characteristically involutionary.

Industrial involution is based upon an analogy with agricultural involution. To be sure, the elements in this repetitive pattern are not rice paddies and sugar; they may instead include automobile repair shops and low-grade civil service posts. The main point is that in both instances these elements merely multiply without building-up to a typologically different system. A great deal of effort is expended - often creatively - in order to remain at the same spotI2.

11. THE SETTING

Sardinia is a large Mediterranean island - 140 miles long, and 40 miles wide at its widest point. The local population of a million and a half is dispersed among many villages and small towns. The main urban center, Cagliari, has a population of some 200,000, yet at the same time more than seventy percent of the population reside in communities of

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less than 20,000 in size. Sardinia is, in brief, a predominantly rural provincial European zone.

In general terms the island can be divided between the interior shepherd region (la Barbagia) and several coastal agricultural districts. The shepherd areas, which range over roughly three-fifths of the island, provide a bleak mountain or hilly setting for the’ pastoral economy. Pasture land is privately owned or rented, and the comparatively large Sardinian herds need to be moved throughout the year. Milk and cheese are the main products of this economy (meat and wool are less important by-products). La Barbagia is, in addition, the historical “home” of Sardinian banditry: the Sardinian tradition does not include Mafia (in the sense of a criminal organization) but for centuries bandits have kidnapped or extorted money from the wealthy and battled against governing authorities’3.

Plains agriculture in Sardinia was customarily based upon grains, olives and vineyards. Malaria was endemic in several zones; following World War 11, however, the disease was eradicated by widespread DDT spraying and the installation of new drainage systems. In addition, irrigation channels were introduced in portions of these areas, and the older agricultural system was transformed into one based upon in- tensive commercial agriculture.

As in the past, agriculture and shepherding continue to be the backbone of the Sardinian economy: in 1970 nearly thirty percent of the population was engaged in these two occupations (this is a high percentage for Europe) and agricultural commodities accounted for seventy percent of the value of goods exported from the island14. In addition, an older mining industry still exists (small amounts of coal and zinc are mined) and two oil refineries as well as industrial zones were recently established. The most spectacular development in the island’s economy appears to be tourism. Based upon the exclusive yachting centers and resorts along the northeastern shore, Sardinia has lately become something of an international tourist attraction.

In contrast with other south Italian regions Sardinia was not in the past a zone of large-scale emigration. During the past two decades, however, more than 300,000 Sards left the island in search of work in mainland Italy and elsewhere throughout the Common Market countries. Remittances have consequently become an important source of capital, and the periodic building booms have in part been financed by these funds.

Sardinia is a part of the Italian Republic, and rights and duties incumbent upon all Italian citizens also apply there. In addition, the

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island enjoys regional autonomy, and the locally elected regional government has authority over economic development planning, edu- cation and social services; plus other spheres of local concern. Moreover, since Sardinia has been a chronically poor region the national develop- ment agencies (particularly the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, or Fund for the South) have invested huge sums in attempts to promote economic and social reconstruction.

In common with other regions in the Italian South the Christian Democratic Party (DC) has been the major political party, with the Communists (PCI) the main opposition. Voting in Sardinia has closely followed national trends, and thus at both the national and regional level government and administration have been dominated by the DC and its coalition partners.

111 . THE CHANGE PROCESS

Industrial involution, it will be recalled, defines a process of change in which new industrially-linked patterns become internally elaborated. The strategy followed in this section will be to explore involutionary currents in three major areas of the Sardinian economy: agriculture, services and public administration”.

O n the whole, Sardinian agriculture has not been especially produc- tive or advantaged. A part of the reason lies in the rocky terrain and absence of large scale water resources. At the same time, however, the system of land tenure also limited the potential for development. The main features of the traditional agricultural regime can briefly be summarized as follows. In contrast with other South Italian regions, rural Sardinia was not dominated by a few noble families and their great estates; instead, a kind of “rude egalitarianism” prevailed in which most villagers held claim to tiny or small parcels of land, while a few owned larger and in some cases quite large tracts of land. Thus, for example, slightly more than 50% of all farm units were between one and three hectares in size, while only 6% were between 25 and 50 hectares. In addition, fragmentation into many small parts was also commonplace; 20% of all farm units were divided into more than ten separate parcels, and this further complicated the rural pattern. Moreover, nearly a third of all landholdings were either rented or sharecropped in one form or another. These practices have been widespread throughout the island, and they pertain equally to the shepherding and the agricultural zones. Taken together, they produced an agricultural system that was small scale, inefficient, and unproductive.

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The question to be asked is how this antique system changed in the past several decades. To begin with, although there have been numer- ous plans for agricultural reform the essential features have not been altered. For example, the national land reform movement of the mid- 1950’s made little dent upon rural Sardinia; there were few great estates from which land could be expropriated, and hence the total amount of private land redistributed was small”. Similarly, while plans for regrouping village lands have been drawn up they have not been implemented on a significant scale. In brief, despite repeated discussions and “action programs” in the 1970’s the structure of Sardinian agriculture continued to be characterized by small plots of land, frac- tionalization, and the prevalence of rental and sharecropping arrange- ments.

O n the other hand, the tendency has also been to elaborate this agricultural system from within: the process has, in other words, been invohtionary. Several examples may be cited. During the past generation the pressure on pasture land in the shepherding areas has become more intense. The herds have grown larger in size, and despite the fact that many shepherd landowners have emigrated or shifted to other occupations the amount of available pasture land continues to be limited. Under these circumstances the price paid for renting pasture has been rising. Caught in this squeeze the shepherds must tend more sheep, produce more milk, merely to keep pace with rising costs. Numerous suggestions for basic reforms, ranging from nationalizing the pastures to providing irrigated pasture lands, have been proposed: but none have been adopted. Instead, the rental contracts have themselves become more complex, as the owners attempt to hedge against rising costs. The Regional Government sought to deal with the problem administratively: laws were passed intending to lower the rental fees, but these proved to be unenforceable (landowners often raised rents in anticipation of new legislation). A great deal of effort and activity has gone into these programs, but the results have been mainly to complicate and prop up the system.

A parallel process can be seen in the production and marketing of cheese. The marketing system is relatively simple. Each shepherd con- tracts with a local milk processor or his agent and guarantees to deliver milk to him throughout the season. In the past many of the processors were tied to large ltalian cheese manufacturing firms. According to informants these firms combined informally and set a low monopoly price for milk. In order to combat this monopoly a Sardinian cheese cooperative movement was begun in the 1920’s. The local village

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cooperatives collected the milk, processed it into cheese and then marketed the cheese to the highest bidder. By the 1960’s cooperatives were organized in practically every village.

Rather than effectively combatting the continental monopolies, however, this multiplication of producers’ cooperatives merely duplicated the number of small sized, inefficient producers. Since each village cooperative operated independently, and all competed with one another, they had little effect upon the marketing or price system. O n the contrary, they became collection agents for the large Italian producers who continue to dominate the market. This cooperative format has, in effect, become attached to the pastoral economy as a kind of internal elaboration.

A different process can be identified in small portions of the coastal plain: in these zones structural changes have been taking place. This process can briefly be described as follows.

The drainage and irrigation projects that were begun in the 1920’s and 1930’s were important change factors; in those villages where irrigation channels were established it became possible to shift from the older reliance upon grains to a new intensive crop program based upon vegetables, fruits and specialized crops (such as flowers). This has in turn produced a steep rise in land prices in these zones, as well as important modifications in tenure arrangements. Moreover, on some of the larger plots agricultural production was mechanized and commer- cialized. Medium-sized processing plants (such as a sugar beet refinery and wineries) were also built, and the agricultural regime consequently became increasingly coordinated and larger in scale. In brief, some of the same trends that have transformed agriculture throughout the Common Market countries also touched portions of rural Sardinia.

These changes have, however, had only a limited impact upon the island as a whole. First, only about 20% of the plain region has thus far been irrigated; expanding commercial agriculture depends upon con- tinuing investments in irrigation networks, and this has proceeded at a slow pace. Within the non-irrigated coastal areas the ancient agricul- tural regime is still maintained. Second, commercial agriculture throughout Europe has suffered from a severe cost-price squeeze, and under these circumstances it is doubtful whether the irrigated zones will be much expanded in the future. While important, these changes are unlikely to deflect the island’s continued involutionary trend.

We turn next to examining developments in commerce - that is, in retail and wholesale trade. The first point to note is that this occu- pational category has been growing steadily. In the period between

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1951 and 1970 the proportion of persons employed in commerce grew from 10% to 18% of the work force, or roughly to a fifth of those employed’ ’.

Second, the commercial system is rooted in a great many small firms. There were approximately 24,000 firms in 1961, and they employed slightly more then 46,000 persons; in other words, they were on the average of two persons sizela. Nearly a half of the shops were involved in food sales - grocers, coffee bars and the like - while many others were engaged in selling clothing and “mechanical goods”. In the villages where the population is small these shops serve a fixed clientele, while in the larger towns they serve a particular neighborhood or quarter. As has often been noted in studies of underdevelopment, these tiny firms can exist since their capital requirements are small, they depend almost entirely upon the owner’s labor, and their margins of profit also tend to be small.

Third, the growth within this category has been concentrated in one area: namely, “mechanical goods”. Between 1951 and 1961 the number of these firms grew by more than 5 0 % , and the number of employees by nearly the same percentage’g. The firms in this category are primarily engaged in the sale or repair of mass-produced consumer goods - they include, for example, automobile agencies and garages, tire repair and sales shops, those selling and repairing radio or television sets, appliance shops or those that market recordings or bicycles. Like the others in this category, these shops also tend to be small. This development attescs to an important feature of contemporary Sardinia - namely, the inclusion of the island within the new post-World War I1 “consumer economy”.

The historical trend in the commercial sphere can be seen to be distinctively involuntionary. The structure of commerce has persisted during the past three decades: Sardinian retail and wholesale firms continue to be small and owner operated. As persons leave agriculture and are drawn into the commercial sector the number of these firms grows in a mechanical, duplicative fashion. Like the Javanese rice paddies described by Geertt, so too in Sardinia there always seems to be room for one more coffee bar or another gasoline station. To cite one example, in a small market town with a population of thirty thousand there were twenty gasoline stations and Seventeen shops doing electric repairs on autos. Examples such as these can be given for all types of commerce throughout the island.

Not only are these firms tiny and repetitive, a great deal of creative ingenuity is required merely to keep them going. A storekeeper who stocks and sells electrical appliances, or the owner of a local coffee bar,

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rapidly becomes entangled-in complicated-financial manaeuvres (mainly deferring debts) that require continuous shrewd juggling; supplies are taken on credit, salaries lowered, taxes avoided, promissory notes slipped from hand to hand, all done in the endless effort to remain solvent. Many shops do fail and are closed; but soon thereafter a new proprielario appears and the cycle begins anew.

Comparable processes of involutionary change can also be traced within the local and regional bureaucracies. A striking feature of the post-war Sardinian political economy is the growth in the size and scope of government agencies. This has taken place at all levels- national, regional and local - and hence government activities have spread throughout the island. To begin with, the national government ministries (such as Education or Labor) maintain their offices and employees. In addition, the special government development agencies such as ETFAS, the Land reform agency, or the Cassaper ii Mazogionzo, have their own staffs. Finally, regional autonomy has meant that an entire new government structure has been created. The Regione Auto- noma h i i a Sardegna employs thousands of persons and controls large budgets, and it has been a major factor in the expansion of the bureaucracies.

Moreover, the non-governmental bureaucracies also have been growing. These include (to cite the main examples) the three trade unions, all of the political parties, the numerous groups sponsored by the Catholic Church (including sports teams, women’s devotional groups, political organizations such as Catholic Action, and many others), as well as a variety of semi-public agencies engaged in pension or housing activities. Each of these has its own local officials and staffs, and they therefore represent another facet of bureaucratic growth.

Bureaucratic expansion is closely linked to regional politics and the political party system. To put it simply, the reigning political parties, and the dominant Christian Democratic Party (DC) in particular, have made use of the public bureaucracies as a way to strengthen their political support and power. Patronage politics, or cfienteka, has been the major mode of regional political organization. As a result of their control over government ministries and agencies the DC and its coalition partners have built a web of ciienteka networks that are implicated in practically all state and para-state activitiesz0.

Many of the key positions within the national and regional minis- tries, as well as those in the government sponsored development agencies, are in the hands of DC appointees. For example, party activists have been appointed to posts in the national ministries (such as the

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Ministry of Education) and they also staff the offices of the regional ministries. The special agencies such as the Cassa or ETFAS tend to have a high proportion of party appointees. Indeed, ETFAS is a prime example of patronage organization. Since its formation in 1954 ETFAS has been controlled by a section of the Sardinian DC leadership; aspiring politicians hold the top administrative positions, and the regional offices are manned by their supporters,

This close link between government and the main political parties has meant that the bureaucracies have expanded in order to meet the needs of the political parties. A state bureaucracy is capable of practically limitless expansion - old tasks can be sub-divided in order to “make room” for new appointees, new posts can be created, and entire new staffs formed. In brief, the Sardinian bureaucracies have grown as more and more persons fit into the system. In this uniquely involutionary process the bureaucracy has, once again like Geertz’s rice paddies, been able to absorb growing numbers of persons.

Exact figures regarding the size of the Sardinian bureaucracies are difficult to acquire. However, according to one survey in the period between 1951 and 1961 the public administration grew from approximately 39,000 to 54,000 persons, or from 10% to 15% of the work force2’. There is no reason to suppose that this trend changed during the 1961-1971 period; on the contrary, judging from the steady growth in administrative budgets the size of the bureaucracies has continued to expand. A fair estimate would be that approximately 17% of the work force was employed in public administration in 1970.

To be sure, this growth is not entirely explained by patronage features; some new administrative activities were undertaken, and the public sector has also been growing in the typical Parkinsonian fashion. Nonetheless, there can be little doubt that this trend reflects the fact that the political parties have put these resources of jobs and budgets to their own use. That this trend is thoroughly involutionary should be clear - there is the kind of internal division and multiplication of tasks that has the effect of“fi1ling in” the administrative structure without in any way altering it.

These involutionary trends in agriculture, commerce and the bureaucracies have had a decisive impact upon the entire society. In- deed, it is fair to conclude that the “treadmill effect” in involution has set its stamp throughout the island. Nevertheless, in concluding this section it is helpful to briefly examine two other major sections of the economy - industry and tourism. The developments in these latter are somewhat different, although (as we shall see) they have not been

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powerful enough to alter the overall direction. Even though the proportion of persons employed in “industry” has

been growing (from 23% in 1951 to 31% in 1970) the local industries have had a limited influence. The ancient mining deposits have dwindled and are no longer an important economic factor. Similarly, Sardinian manufacturing is based almost entirely upon small work- shops; few of the firms listed under this category could be described as large, ca ital intensive or as a major manufacturing unit. Indeed, as a

closed system, based upon indigenous and therefore local factors and hardly at all integrated with the national level productive complexz2”.

O n the other hand, the growth in the number of persons employed in this category is almost entirely related to a boom in construction. Many shepherds and peasants who left agriculture found employment in construction; the new roads, hospitals, schools, and in particular housing estates, attest to the continuing construction activity throughout the island. While this has been an important factor in providing employ men t, its long term economic consequences are in- herently limited. That is, increased construction activity does not in itself promote the island’s productive capacities, nor does it constitute a turn toward industrialization. To be sure, the physical look of the island appears different and more “modern”, but the building boom is an unlikely lever to bring about deeper changes.

Such “deeper changes” might come about in the future as a’result of the recent establishment of new petrochemical plants. Two oil refineries have been built, and they may provide the basis for industrial expansion. For the time being, however, these highly mechanized plants have had only minor influence. Since they are capital intensive they do not employ many local persons; indeed, in one instance the employees were mainly Italian technicians who did not reside per- manently on the island. Hence, as is typically the case the introduction of a capital intensive industry into an underdeveloped zone has not transformed the local socio-economic system23.

Finally, it appears too that the new tourist industry has not had important positive developmental consequences. Sardinia has been placed upon the tourist map; thousands of foreign tourists vacation in newly built beach hotels and resorts. The tourist areas are, however, a kind of an enclave, and as such they have not produced important structural results. The new hotels are almost exclusively owned by outside investors; large sections of the coastline were sold to private developers and real-estate speculators who built resorts and other facil-

study o P local industries concluded, “Sardinian industry is an entirely

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ities to attract persons on holiday. Few among the island population have found employment in these zones, however, since the hotel staffs tend to be composed of outside personnel. Moreover, much of the tourist money spent in these enclaves does not circulate on the island but instead flows out to banks in Rome or Zurich. Thus the beach trade has also not proved to be an important source of economic growth.

IV THE RESGLTS

The trends described in the last section have been operative during a period of several decades, and they may therefore be expected to have had an important impact. What are, therefore, the characteristic fea- tures of an “industrially involuted” society?

First, in an industrially-involuted society incomes tend to be low and poverty is widespread. Personal incomes in Sardinia are significantly lower than elsewhere in Italy, and measured on a European scale they are meagre indeed. Poverty is particularly acute among shepherds and peasants; for example, in the early 1960’s the average yearly personal income for shepherds and peasants was estimated to be in the $300-500 range24. Similar incomes have been reported for those engaged in retail trade; for example, a study published in 1964 cited incomes of $380 per year for persons working in commerce2). T o be sure, the income level of merchants, senior public officials and landowners is considerably high- er; some have high incomes and in a few instances new fortunes have been made. However, the internal dynamic of involution - that is, elaborating the agrarian structure while fitting more and more persons into small-scale commerce and low-grade government posts - is fully in harmony with low incomes and meagre standards of living.

Second, consumerism (“economia del consumo”) is a characteristic feature of industrial involution. Sardinia has not become industrial - there are few modern factories or service centers on the island - but the local population have become consumers of mass produced industrial goods. Fiat and Alfa-Sud autos, TV sets and hair spray, hit recordings and fashionable beach wear, are widely diffused throughout the society. To be sure, the low income shepherds or unskilled construction work- ers do not purchase expensive items, yet together with the more affluent segments they have all become modern consumers.

Third, in a society characterized by industrial involution the pattern of stratification will no longer be based exclusively upon control over land. The Sardinian case well illustrates this point. Formerly (that is, until practically the middle of the present century) social position was

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mainly determined by control over land; although, as noted earlier, in the classic Sardinian pattern nearly all had access to some land, those who owned the larger or choicer plots enjoyed prominence and power. Indeed, with the exception of a small professional strata as well as the town based artisans and commercianti, each family’s place on the social scale was measured by the amount of land it controlled.

This pattern no longer predominates. The value of some agricultural land has been declining; for example, non-irrigated land has only marginal or symbolic value, while commercial agriculture has also become a costly, risky venture. More important, several new economic opportunities have opened. Urban real estate has considerable value and a small number of entrepreneurs have become wealthy in land specu- lation and construction.

Moreover, power and prestige is to a considerable extent in the hands of the regional political elite; it is this group, rather than the large landowners who control the prized resources of funds, jobs and in- fluence. For example, the regional ministers dispense budgets amount- ing to billions of lire, and they therefore have a determining influence upon local events. Indeed, politics has become the major mobility ladder - many members of the new political elite come from shepherd or lower-middle class backgrounds. T o summarize briefly, in an indus- trially involuted society the high positions in the stratifications system are likely to be held by enterprising commercial and political figures, whereas landholding no longer exclusively determines social status.

Fourth, in an industrially-involuted society it is likely that patronage will become the major political mechanism. To be sure, patronage is not unique to involution, yet it tends to flourish under these con- ditions. Comparatively large resources are controlled by political fig- ures, and it is therefore perhaps inevitable that they are used to advance political party or individual ambitions. Positions and favors are allocated to the political faithful, and decisions regarding government policies are heavily influenced by political ambitions and schemes. In the Sardinian case this has been termed “trasferismo”, or the “politics of motion”. The trasfomista, writes the Sardinian sociologist Lucca Pinna, “sees all political problems solely in terms of his political following,’’ and he “uses political office in order to gain advantages that can build additional links with his supporters26.”

Patronage politics are inherently conservative - the trasfomista makes use of the prevailing system of power rather than seeking to introduce rapid or broad-scaled structural changes. This is by no means the only reason why the political regimes of societies of this type

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emphasize “reform” rather than “structural changes”. Nonetheless, the prevalence of patronage is a key factor in understanding why rapid transformations are unlikely in industrially-involuted societies.

Finally, industrial involution produces an outlook of cynicism and despair. Features such as low incomes or the politics of “motion” result in a widespread feeling of being caught in an underproductive, non- developing region. To be sure, for members of the new political and economic elite the present situation is more promising; but they are a small group, and for the majority there is a deep sense of frustration. The constant stream of emigrants attests to the despair felt by many. Industrial involution is a cul-de-sac, and the society appears to be going nowhere; the change process is continuous, but these are not the kinds of changes that can be expected to lead to social and economic recon- st ruction.

V CONCLUSIONS

The previous sections of this article focused upon the process of industrial involution. In this concluding section we turn to a different although related topic: how can this process be explained? Why is i t that regions such as Sardinia become involuted?

One explanation emphasizes the absence of natural resources. I t might be claimed that Sardinia is underdeveloped and involuted since it has few of those resources that would permit rapid economic growth. An impressive list of diradvantages could be cited: the island lacks substantial mineral and agricultural resources; there appear to be few economic specialities that can be exploited; the native population has historically been remote from centers of innovation and lacks techno- logical sophistication. Given the absence of alternatives, this argument would conclude, it is hardly surprising that persons turn to small-scale commerce or that the bureaucracies expand so rapidly.

This argument is not entirely convincing. Sardinia is by no means abundantly endowed, yet a t the same time resources exist that could be exploited effectively. To cite several examples, local production would be enhanced if technological innovations were introduced in the shepherding zones or out-of-season crops grown along the coast. Equally important, Sardinia’s beaches represent an enormous natural asset, and with proper direction and investment the tourist industry could become the local “engine of growth”. Furthermore, there is no evidence for the assumption that the Sardinians lack managerial or other talents. The point to be emphasized is that resources, like beauty,

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are in the eye of the beholder, and in common with other “un-endow- ed” areas of the world Sardinia has the promise of untapped treasure.

A second theory is related to the one just considered. It might be argued that involution tends to emerge within marginal regions. That is, while industrialism may take hold in certain central or “heartland” regions, at the same time it also brings about involutionary distortions within the outlying, marginal places. These marginal regions are not vital to the nation’s future, and hence they are unable to mobilize the resources adequate to undertake rapid internal development. Historic marginality can, in this view, be seen to be the underlying cause of involution.

Testing this explanation depends upon introducing comparative data. It is instructive to compare Sardinia with two other classic marginal regions - Chiapas in southern Mexico, and Brittany in Western France. The descriptions that follow are necessarily compressed, but they provide a basis for further specifying the reasons for involutionary change.

Chiapas can be termed marginal since it is distant from the Mexican political and economic centers, and also because of the absence there of strategic economic resources. Mexican industrialization has advanced at a rapid rate but it has also been extremely centralized as well as restricted to certain groupsz7. Chiapas has been excluded from this process - only a tiny fraction of Mexican industrial production is located there, and it is therefore agriculture plus commerce that forms the region’s eco- nomic core.

Chiapas has a population of more than half a million. The majority Indian population is spread over many tiny hamlets and small villages, while the minority mestizos tend to be concentrated in the towns. The key point for our purposes is the structure of the local economy: the agricultural regime operates at a bare subsistence level, and although changing it shows little signs of breaking away from this pattern. Cancian’s study of a highland village economy makes this point clearly:

“The vast majority of Zinacanrecos still concenrrate on raising corn and beans ... although thc production of flowers, fruit and occasionally coffec has become more important of latc ... Although day-to-day consumption varics substantially from family to family, i t is limited to a few standard items’8.”

Per capita income in villages such as this is estimated a t $60 per year, and hence consumption is at the subsistence level with an occasional purchase of simple tools or household items. Commerce and finance are controlled by the town-based mestizos - places such as Comitan and San

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Cristobal de las Casas are filled with small shops that market mechanical and consumer goods. These towns also serve as administrative and political centers. Studies by Nash and others have shown that the rural Indian population has been drawn into the orbit of national political organizations (such as the ejido councils) but these activities have not moved out much beyond the local village level.

Is industrial involution taking place in Chiapas? Surely there is a great deal that is new and different; bu t these changes (new crops, new forms of marketing as well as organizational changes) are not accurately summarized by the concept of industrial involution. The major dif- ference is that Chiapas is not yet firmly a part of the Mexican industrial economy, and the features characteristic of industrial involution have therefore not appeared. Even though Mexican industrial growth is prodigious statistically, it is still not powerful enough to encompass and transform regions such as this. Moreover, the national organizations that are linked to the rural areas have not as yet produced a different political design. What this comparison indicates is that industrial involution is a phenomenon characteristic of regions within more advanced industrial states (such as Italy), rather than of such new and partially indusrrial nations as Mexico.

If the Chiapas case falls to the one side of our model of industrial involution, the experience of Brittany comes up on the other side. Poor in natural resources and distant from the national center, Brittany has been dubbed the “dead end of the continent29.” Historically, this region of some two-and-a-half million population was mainly agricultural; peasants raised grains and animals on small plots of land, and the few towns (such as Brest and Rennes) served as minor administrative centers. During the last century population pressure grew, and although production also rose the main results were an increase in sharecropping, land fragmentation and rural poverty. Indeed, it is only several decades ago that the “old structures” were still viable in Brittany - an archaic land tenure system, low productivity and low incomes, the virtual absence of significant industries, plus the absence of integration within the national economy.

Brittany has, however, changed in a number of decisive ways. A program of land consolidation (regroupement) lead to combining small strips of land into larger parcels; new crops were introduced, and a government program of mechanization (CUMA) met with some success. Equally important the Breton syndical movement organized an effective producers’ cooperative which grew to be the largest coop in Europe and competes effectively with other large food chains. Finally,

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substantial industrial development was also undertaken; an automobile plant was built at Rennes, and new electronic and textile plants have also been built in smaller rural centers.

Is industrial involution taking place in Brittany? Not at all. Instead, the trend has been in the direction of undertaking major structural changes. To cite several examples, regroupmt provided a new base for the agricultural regime, just as the producers’ cooperative introduced a modern system of “vertical integration.” The new industrial develop- ment also opened economic alternatives; persons who were drawn o u t of agriculture have not so much found positions in the state bureaucracies as they have been absorbed within the new industries. Not involution, then, but the transformation of regional structures. To put it succinctly, Brittany is not involuted since it is no longer mar- ginal.

Comparing Sardinia, Chiapas and Brittany suggests therefore that industrial involution tends to unfold within certain industrial states. These are states with a comparatively strong industrial base, yet their national economy is not powerful enough to transform some outlying agrarian regions. Moreover, this comparison also indicates that eco- nomic forces are not necessarily the main cause of involution. The example of Brittany illustrates this point. What is significant is not so much that Brittany has lately experienced broad structural changes, but rather that this process took so long in coming. France had been a world economic power for more then a century and a half before Brittany became “transformed”. What must be emphasized is that political policies and orientations are vital features - the critical changes in Brittany came about only after “radical” political decisions were taken and implemented. The nature of the political regime is therefore a key feature of industrial involution.

NOTES

1 The Sardinian material presented in this article is based upon field research carried out during I966 and for shorter pcriods in 1968 and 1969. The research was sponsored by thc National Science Foundation. Dr. Emma Morin took an acrivc role in the field research, and 1 am pleased to thank her for her contribution.

2 See, among others, J. H. Boekc, Eronomia and Economic Policy ojDuaI Sorieties, New York, Institute of Pacific Rclations, 1953; W. W. Rosrow, ThePromJof Esonomir Gmrutb, New York, W. W. Norton, 1952; and A. 0. Hirschman, ThfSfrategy~Economic Dtvehprnenr, Ncw Haven, Yale Univcrsity Press, 1959.

3 See J. H. Boeke, op. cit.; R. S. Eckaus, “Factor Proportions in Underdevcloped Areas” American Economic Review, 4 5 , 1955, pp, 539-65; V. Lutz, Italy: A Study in Economic Deuelopment, London, Oxford, 1962; and A. 0. Hirschman. op. cit.

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4 J. H. Bwke, op. 5 A. 0. Hirschman, op. cit., pp. 125-132. 6 C. Geerrz, Agricultural Involution, Berkeley, University of California Prcss, 1963, pp.

7 See. among orhcrs, W. W. Rostow. op, rit.; L. Pyc. Policies, Pprionality and Nation Building, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1362; and D. Apter, The Polifirs of Modernization, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1965.

8 In an otherwise cxcellent study, Tarrow adopts this perspectivc in his analysis of the Italian South. Yet as he himself notes in passing, thisarca hasbccn termed “transitional” for a very long time. Sec Sidney Tarrow, Peasant Gmmunirm in Southern It.4, New Haven. Yale University Press, 1967.

9 A. Goldcnwicser, “ L o o a Ends of a Theory on the Individual Pattern and Involurion in Primitive Society” in: R. Lowic, Editor, h a y s in Anrhropohgy, Presenred f o A. L. Kroeber, Berkeley, Universiry of California Prcss. 1936.

p. 14.

61-62.

10 Gecrrz, op. d , p. 80. 11 Ibid, p. 101. 1 2 There are xveral differences bctwecn Geertz’s concept and what is here termed “indus-

rrial involurion”. Gccrtz’s analysis is based upon a historical period of eighty or so years, while the trend describcd hcrc is limited to about two decade. In addition, whereas Geertz’s theory places emphasis upon a rapidly expanding population, the concept as it is used here is compatible with a declining rural population or with onc that is stationary. I t is not only that more persons are fitted into an existing pattern (as in the bureaucracies) but also that the elements within the pattern are rhcmalves elaborated and repclrcd (as in agriculturc).

13 The topic of Sardinian banditry is complex and intertwined with facets of local society and culrurc. The bandit tradition is not rooted in social protest, but rather in local social stratification and codes of honor and power. In recent ycars banditry has also shown signs of becoming “modcrnized”: i t appears rhar some criminal gangs operate across the island in ways that differ from the traditional bandit style.

14 h t r o Kegionah di Programmanone. Relazione d / a Situazione Eronomica deila Sardegna nel 1970, Table 21

1 3 The proportion of persons engaged in various occupations changed drastically in rhc recent past. Thus in the pcriod bcrwcen 1951 and 1970 the agriculturc category dropped from 51% ro 28%; in the same period rhe industry category grew from 25% to 31%, and the tertiary occupations also grcw from 25% to 40% of the work force.

16 The cxpropriarions were largc enough, however, ro establish clusters of new “land reform” villages. These small communities were planned and guided by a special regional agcncy, ETFAS.

17 Monografie Regional; per la Programmazione Economira. Varea, Guiffre, 1966. 18 Ibid. p. 99. 19 Ibid, p. 189. 20 This is analyzed in greater dctail in my articlc, “Patrons, Patronage and Polirical Parries”,

21 Maograf ie . op. cir., p. 102. 22 The refinery located at Porto Torres is considerably larger. An entire refining cornplcx

has been built there. and the work force numbers in the several thousands. As yet, however, the influence of this zone has been localizcd to a small pocket in the northern province.

23 Regione Autonoma Della Sardcgna, Piano Di RinaJffta Lonom’ra eSoriah Della Sardegna. Piano Quinquennale 1965-1969 Cagliari, 1966, pp. 4-5.

comparative Studik in SoriprY a n d Hi~zoty~ Vol. 10. 1968, pp. 377-400.

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24 Monografie. op. lit., p. 101. 25 Lucca Pinna, La Famglia Esclujiva Bari, Latcrza, 1971, p. 170. 26 See, among others, R. Hansen, The Politiu of Mexican Dmk@ztnt, Baltimorc, Johns

Hopkins Press, 1971; and J. Wilkie, The Mexican Reoolution: Fedpral Expenditures and Social Change since 1910, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1970.

27 F. Cancian, Economic .!& in Zinacantan, Stanford, Stanford Univcrsity Prcss, 1970, pp.

28 S. Bcrger, Peaants against Pohtics: Rural Organization in Brittany. 191 1-1967, Cambridge, 14-17.

Harvard Univcrsity Press, 1971, p. 12.

SUMMARY

This article analyzes recent changes in Sardinia in terms of the concept of involution. Involution refers to a process of change in which there is continuous elaboration within a pattern, while the pattern itself remains fixed. Involutionary processes within Sardinian agriculture, commerce, and the government bureaucracies are systematically analyzed. Thus, for example, traditional agricultural patterns have been increasingly elaborated, small scale commerce has multiplied in a duplicative fashion, and the bureaucracies have grown by sub-dividing tasks and adding personnel. Hence, although Sardinia is within the orbit of industrial centers, i t has itself not become “industrial” but rather continues to be a marginal, involuted region. In examining the causes of involution comparisons are made between Sardinia and two other outlying regions, Chiapas in Mexico and Brittany in France.

RE SUM^

Cette Ctude analyse des changements rCcents en Sardaigne du point de vue du concept de I’involution.

L’involution dtsignele processus de modification au cours duquel s’op2re une tvolution permanente i l’intkrieur d’un modtle, tandis que le modtle h i -mtme ne subit aucun changement. Des processus invo- lutifs de I’agriculture, du commerce et de la bureaucratie administrative de la Sardaigne sont systkmatiquement analyks. C’est ainsi que, par exemple, des modtles agricoles traditionnels ont ttt constamment dkvelopp&, que le commerce de dttail s’est proportionnellement mul- tiplie e t que la bureaucratie s’est amplifike par la subdivision des fonctions et un personnel suppltmentaire. C’est pourquoi la Sardaigne mtme, bien que se trouvant dans le cercle d’influence de centres in- dustriels, n’est pas devenue industrielle mais continue plut6t d’ttre une rkgion marginale et involutive, c’est-i-dire ne se dkveloppant qu’i

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l’inttrieur de ses propres frontieres. Pour examiner les causes de cette involution, on a itabli des comparaisons entre la Sardaigne et deux autres rigions extkrieures, i savoir Chiapas au Mexique et la Bretagne en France.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Dieser Artikel untersucht neuere Veranderungen auf Sardinien unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Konzeptes der Involution.

Involution bezieht sich auf einen VeranderungsprozeD, bei welchem sich eine standige Weiterentwicklung innerhalb eines Musters voll- zieht, wahrend das Muster selbst unverandert bleibt. Involutionare Prozesse in der Landwirtschaft, im Handel und der Verwaltungsburo- kratie Sardiniens werden systematisch analysiert. So sind bspw. traditionelle landwirtschaftliche Muster bestandig weiterentwickelt worden, der Kleinhandel hat sich entsprechend vervielfaltigt und die Biirokratie ist durch Aufgabenunterteilung und zusatzliches Personal angewachsen. Deshalb ist Sardinien selbst, obwohl es sich im EinfluDkreis industrieller Zentren befindet, nicht jndustriell” geworden, sondern bleibt eher weiterhin eine marginale, nur in den eigenen Grenzen sich weiterentwickelnde Region. U m die Ursachen der Involution zu prufen, werden Vergleiche zwischen Sardinien und zwei anderen, auBerhalb gelegenen Regionen, namlich Chiapas in Mexiko und der Bretagne in Frankreich, angestellt.