An Open and Shut Case: Common Fields and Enclosures in a Village in the Colca Valey of Southern Peru

Abstract

"One of the types of agrarian change in the Andes gaining attention is the closure of communally controlled open fields. This change is significant because it elicits comparisons with the trajectory of the English open fields about which there is a voluminous and rich historical literature. The English open field case has been a laboratory for the elaboration and testing of theories of agrarian change, in particular the impact of capitalism on a feudal mode of production."