Class relations and class structure in the midwest

This chapter provides a model for the more complete analysis of class formation. It explores a neo-Marxist problematic, focusing particularly on the class structure theory of Wright and adapting it to the specific nature of production relations in agriculture. The chapter addresses some of the limitations through speculation on the political implications of contradictory class location and analyzes the transformation in light of the Weberian concepts of rationality and rationalization. Marxian class analysis often takes as its starting point the abstract category, “mode of production” and moves toward the concrete concept of “social formation.” The social relations of production to be discussed are: tenancy, indebtedness, off-farm work, contract production, and hired labor. Stinchcombe’s influential essay “Agricultural Enterprise and Rural Class Relations” drew attention to the family-size tenancy. The extraction of rent payments from direct producer tenants constitutes an appropriation of surplus value.