Sharecroppers of the Sertão: Economics and Dependence on a Brazilian Plantation

This published doctoral dissertation is a concise and informative contribution to our understanding of life and livelihood in the dry interior of northeast Brazil. The author counts the exact number of man-days of labor in all phases of the agricultural calendar, and compares them with the actual amounts of goods produced and consumed. In this manner a quantified basis for conclusions is constructed which deals effectively with the broad theme of personal security and the several forms of dependence and interdependence which link the sertanejo sharecropper with his patrão and his fellow moradores. Each place and time and group of people has its own logic, and Dr. Johnson has adrmrably demonstrated the complexities and logic of the backlanders’ lives.