Us Below - Peasantry and Struggle - [Booklet]

Us Below

– A History of Endurance –

A Short History of Peasantry and Struggle
https://bit.ly/usbelow

About this page

This page brings together the materials used in the creation of the booklet. It makes accesible source documents, working files, and related references. The wider library offers additional materials for further exploration.

Content

This concise historical essay explores the long experience of peasantry from the early medieval period to the modern age, focusing on land, labour, enclosure, and the enduring structures of power that shaped rural life. It traces how systems of dependency, extraction, and dispossession emerged and evolved, while also highlighting the resilience, customs, and forms of resistance that allowed communities to survive.

Moving beyond a purely Western narrative, the text situates peasant history within broader transformations including industrialisation and colonial expansion. It reflects on what was lost through enclosure and modernisation, as well as what forms of knowledge and practice persist. Written in a clear and accessible style, the work functions both as an introduction and as a reflective synthesis, inviting readers to reconsider the role of land, labour, and endurance in shaping human history.

#peasantry #peasants #labour #land #enclosure #commons #agrarianhistory #socialhistory #ruralhistory #industrialisation #colonialism #resistance #endurance #class #agriculture #politicaleconomy #agrariansystems #classrelations

Editor: P.I. Hublou

Publisher: Silentfactory

Pages: 19

1st edition: 07 April 2026

Current edition: 2.1

Creative Commons (CC BY)

Download "Us Below – A History of Endurance –" [from edition 2.1 on]

Read online or download booklet v.2.1 [PDF]

https://bit.ly/usbelow-booklet [PDF + Word; Dropbox]

Download "Us Below – A History of Endurance –" [1st edition]

Z-Library download [PDF booklet, v1.0]: https://bit.ly/usbelow-zlib

ARTE-TV Documentaries ""Ploughing Tilling Fighting - A history of peasants"

Series overview: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/RC-024861/ploughing-tilling-fighting/

Download via Dropbox: https://bit.ly/peasant-videos [Source Documentaries]

Cultural references

This work is informed not only by historical material, but also by cultural expressions that reflect the enduring presence of labour and life “below”.

Ballade van den boer (J.W.F. Werumeus Buning)
— a poetic expression of continuity and persistence in the face of events.
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
— a visual reflection of how daily labour continues while history unfolds elsewhere.
Menocchio
— a historical case of a 16th-century miller whose independent worldview brought him into conflict with religious authority, illustrating the limits placed on alternative forms of thought within structured societies.

These works resonate with the central theme of endurance that runs through the text.

=> Related material available via Dropbox: https://bit.ly/cult-ref

Historical context

The text also reflects on processes such as the enclosure of common land, through which shared resources were privatised and traditional ways of life were transformed.

=> Related material available via Dropbox: http://bit.ly/enclosure-slavery

Project folder structure (Dropbox)

Direct access to all project’s files, including to material about the poem and painting mentioned.

Folder PATH listing for DropBox volume: \Dropbox\shared\PLIB\THEMES\Farmers Struggles
=> Access via: https://bit.ly/farm-strug

Mind:

Some of the files found in the Dropbox folders are raw working materials used to create the booklet.

It is made available to allow further research and for educational purposes for those seeking to do similar research.

1. ==> \PLIB\THEMES\Economy\Enclosures

2. ==> \PLIB\THEMES\Farmers Struggles

| DIR-structure 20260413 19h48m

| Project Overview and Structure.txt

+---Core Texts [Work documents]

| Ploughing Tilling Fighting - Collected Essay and Articles.docx

| Ploughing Tilling Fighting - Introduction and Synthesis Essay.docx

| Ploughing Tilling Fighting - Introduction and Synthesis Essay.txt

| Ploughing Tilling Fighting A History of Peasants.txt

+---Production and Sources

| +---Cultural References

| | +---Ballade van den boer - Poem

| | | Ballad of the farmer - J.W.F. Werumeus Buning.docx

| | | Ballade van den boer - INFO.txt

| | | Ballade van den boer - J.W.F. Werumeus Buning.docx

| | |

| | +---Landscape with the Fall of Icarus - Painting

| | | Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. - Brittanica.docx

| | | - Brittanica - Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.pdf

| | | Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.jpg

| | | Daily Art Magazine - Pieter Bruegel the Elder Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.pdf

| | |

| | \---Menocchio

| | Menocchio - INFO.txt

| | Menocchio - Overview.pdf

| |

| +---Episodes - Texts [Work documents]

| | +---1-4 The Beginning

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Article final.docx

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Article final.txt

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Article revised.docx

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Article revised.txt

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Article.txt

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Edited transcript.txt

| | | The Beginning 1-4 Raw transcript.txt

| | |

| | +---2-4 Rebellion and War

| | | Rebellion and War 2.4 Article final.docx

| | | Rebellion and War 2.4 Article final.txt

| | | Rebellion and War 2.4 Article.txt

| | | Rebellion and War 2.4 Edited transcript.txt

| | | Rebellion and War 2.4 Raw transcript.txt

| | |

| | +---3-4 Towards Freedom

| | | Towards Freedom 3.4 Article final.docx

| | | Towards Freedom 3.4 Article final.txt

| | | Towards Freedom 3.4 Article.txt

| | | Towards Freedom 3.4 Edited transcript.txt

| | | Towards Freedom 3.4 Raw transcript.txt

| | |

| | +---4-4 Against the Rest of the World

| | | Against the Rest of the World 4.4 Article final.docx

| | | Against the Rest of the World 4.4 Article final.txt

| | | Against the Rest of the World 4.4 Article.txt

| | | Against the Rest of the World 4.4 Edited transcript.txt

| | | Against the Rest of the World 4.4 Raw transcript.txt

| | |

| +---Documentary Subtitles

| | Against the Rest of the World 4 4.vtt

| | Rebellion and War 2 4.vtt

| | The Beginning 1 4.vtt

| | Towards Freedom 3 4.vtt

| | _Subtitles INFO.txt

| |

| \---Source Documentaries [Video files]

| The Beginning 1 4.mp4

| Rebellion and War 2 4.mp4

| Towards Freedom 3 4.mp4

| Against the Rest of the World 4 4.mp4

| SD - Admin.txt

\---Us Below - A Short History of Peasantry and Struggle

| A Short History of Peasantry and Struggle 2.1.docx

| A Short History of Peasantry and Struggle 2.1.pdf [Booklet]

| ASHOPAS - Info.txt

| Booklet announcements.txt

| Us Below - Text Insight.png

| Us Below Project Webpage.url

+---Us Below - Previous versions

| A Short History of Peasantry and Struggle. 2.0.pdf

\---Us Below ASHOPAS - Covers

01 Endurance of the Past and Present.png

02 Endurance through changing horizons.png

03 A history from the ground.png

04 Endurance through time and change.png

05 Us Below -Insta.jpg

06 Us Below - Insta2.jpg

07 Us Below - 3 line cover.jpg

07 Us Below - 3 line cover.png

=> Access via: https://bit.ly/farm-strug

Text Insight: upload the PDF to: https://voyant-tools.org/

Discover more:

Full library and related materials (Dropbox)

A wide variety of materials to browse available for download: https://bit.ly/informatorium

Library For A Better World (Website)

A wide variety of materials to browse: https://bit.ly/lifabew