Present-day Reciprocal Labor Systems

how to effectively use the labor in order to speed up or to schedule their rice cultivation activities in concert with the rain fall schedule.

However, as I stated above, there has been a change from shifting agriculture in the Sambo area that has affected the traditional reciprocal labor systems, and indirectly disturbed the “know-how and daily life evaluation center”. The change began in 1989 when a district chief came to the village and saw fallow land being “unused.”²²⁶ The chief persuaded peasants to plant cashew nut trees on some of this fallow land. At first, the cashew nut trees produced a good harvest and generated a lot of income from sales (because at that time the price of cashew nuts was high). Seeing the profits to be made from cashew nuts, Sambo villagers began planting cashew nuts on fallow and clearing forest to make new cashew nut plantations.

According to tradition, uncultivated land – forest or fallow land – belongs to the community. A piece of land under cultivation, however, is considered to be the private property of the cultivator. Since the introduction of cashew nut trees into the Sambo area, traditional land tenure systems have collapsed.

Villagers clear fallow land and forested areas, and plant them with cashew nut trees. When they need to raise cash or pay off debts, they sell the plantations to wealthy investors. Today, increasing numbers of villagers work for cash on privately-owned cashew nut plantations that formerly belonged to the community.

In addition to affecting land tenure, the change from shifting agricultural to cash crops has also resulted in significant social change. Although cashew nut plantations can provide cash to villagers, when the price of cashew nuts is down, villagers receive less income for their investment of time and energy, and risk having to sell their land to pay off debts. At the same time, villagers are gradually losing access to the ecological resources that can save them in times of food shortage, and must depend more and more exclusively on rainfed rice (transplantation and broadcasting). More importantly, as villagers are exposed to market forces that are out of their control, there has been a corresponding downgrading of belief in the Buddhist temple, the efficacy of rituals, and traditional ethics and morality.

In this next section, I will discuss the labor systems presently operating in Sambo village.

7.3.1 Present day labor systems in Sambo

In Sambo village, labor systems include 1) labor services in exchange for cash; 2) labor organized for specific projects by the VDC with the support of local and international NGOs; and 3) traditional agricultural reciprocal labor systems. I have argued in this thesis that the first two labor systems are ineffective for long term community development because they are sporadic, temporary, and because the participants are working for “gifts” (rice, food or cash) rather than for the successful outcome of the project. In contrast, the traditional agricultural reciprocal labor systems are a permanent labor force in which all community members are automatically participants and equals even though some scholars (Ovesen et al., 1996) have argued that these systems are not egalitarian, but are “loose structures.” In

226 In shifting agriculture, rice can be cultivated in a field for a maximum of two years. Then must be left uncultivated, or fallow, for two to five years to allow soil nutrients to regenerate.

Sambo village, every villager can be a member of traditional reciprocal labor systems. S/he works for others and others will work for him or her.

In this next section I will describe some of my observations of the labor systems practiced in Sambo village.²²⁷ During my fieldwork, I found that during the cultivation season, the most important topic of conversation for everyone in Sambo village was rice. During the day, villagers shared information while working in the rice fields; at night, information was shared by family members, typically during dinner time. In this way all villagers, regardless of sex, age, or education, constantly exchanged information about rice technology.

7.3.1.1 Dinner

My first example is based on a dinner conversation at the house of Sim Norm, an employee of the Department of Culture and Fine Arts as the chief guard of the Sambo Prey Kuk monuments and also by the Waseda Project of Conservation and Preservation at Sambo Prey Kuk. One evening during the rice cultivation season, I ate dinner at Norm’s house During the meal, Norm asked his wife about the progress of rice transplantation: “Is transplantation of Uncle Lam’s rice field finished?” “Whose (paddy field) is next?” “Why wasn’t it finished?” “Who joined that group?” “How many dai (short name for provas dai,

“exchange hands”) remain that we haven’t compensated for yet (still owe) or have we earned?” Norm’s wife answered her husband’s questions one by one. When she did not know the answer she asked her daughters and son. Other problems discussed included the schedule for the next day’s activities, and which family member would go where, the quality of rice seedlings (were they weak or spindly; had they been nourished with enough water in the nursery bed) as well as the advantages and disadvantage of a specific rice variety, and the state of the soil of the paddy field of Um (uncle), etc. Because the family knew which families were using what type of rice seed, the progress of transplantation made by each family, their techniques of rice maintenance, what was difficult for a case of a specific rice-seed transplantation, they could plan their own cultivation. This was very important because if everyone started to cultivate their rice fields at once, there would be a shortage of participants for reciprocal labor, transplanting could not be finished within a day, and there could be damage to the rice seedlings.

After dinner, it was already dark and a kerosene lamp was lit. Norm and I sat on the front porch of the house chatting and I overhead a discussion in the house next door. A villager came to ask the neighbor if she would help with transplanting the following day. In the house opposite Norm’s house, the neighbors discussed their planned activities for the next several days A had already made a contract with B for rice seedling transportation, so when a woman came to ask for his participation, he would send one of his daughters, named Khaon, to participate: Oh! Saek, kñom trov dek kandap aoy ming Ksom! Cham kñom aoy mi khaon tao chhouyi, min ei te. (“Oh! Tomorrow, I will transport rice seedling of aunty Ksom! I will send Khaon to your place, no problem!” During this conversation, a reciprocal labor agreement was reached.The

227 Mr. Norm was employed by the Department of Culture and Fine Arts as the chief guard of the Sambo Prey Kuk Ancient monuments and also by the Waseda Project of Conservation and Preservation of the monument. Therefore he cannot keep up-to-date on the information in his village.

following morning while it was still dark, I was woken up by ringing noises from the bells of the oxen and the preparation of the households members for departure to the rice fields.

7.3.1.2 In the Field

I learned from the conservation the previous night that there were at least two reciprocal labor groups transplanting rice in the south part of the village. I did not know exactly where the rice field was located.

After going to the prasat, I began to walk east following a footpath through very bushy forest. Then I heard the voices of peasants:

Huy! Cho! Cho! Huy! Cho! Cho! Huy! Huy!…(this is how the peasants direct their cattle when plowing and/or harrowing a paddy field).

Finally, I found my way out of the forest. I asked the peasant plowing the field for directions to the transplantation field. He knew the place well, probably through the information exchange systems I described above. It ook me almost 20 minutes to walk to the transplantation field. As I walked I found that the paddy fields here were laid out in a “zigzag” shape and hidden behind bushes. This form contradicts the present modern techniques recommended by most governmental or development agencies or projects, which promote making the paddy field wider, and cutting down the bushes which stand between each paddy field. The reason why the peasants ignore the advice is because this contradicts their traditional knowledge of their environment, a traditional knowledge that is reinforced by the Buddhist temple and ritual ceremonies: namely, that rice fields need shade and the organic fertilizer provided naturally by trees, and the contours of the paddy fields should relate to water management practices. (Chay et al. 2003: 210)

I found two groups of peasants: one group composed of two women who were quietly transplanting rice seedlings, and a young man who was plowing, and another group a short distance from there was composed of more than thirty people. I asked the older of the two women of the first group why there were only three participants. She smiled to me but did not answer my question directly. After some conversation, I learned that the old woman was from another village and she had just bought this paddy field from a Sambo villager. Her workers were a labor service group, hired for cash. Next, I visited the second group. The work crew in the second group had smiling faces and were joking and chatting with each other. A group of young boys was on an ox-cart parked near the paddy field under the shadow of a big tree. Every so often their parents called them to bring some necessary items. Hanging on the ox-cart were several plastic rice bags filled with various foods, including fried fish, chicken, pounded tamarind with salt, and pickled crab. Other bags were full of dried areca slices, betel leaves, tobacco, water and local wine.

The owner of the paddy field was a young boy; he handed rice seedlings to the persons who were transplanting. Despite his youth he was able to answer the questions of the participants, such as the kind of rice seeds that he used, the distance he wanted between each clump of rice seedling. The verbal exchange among the group never ended, and ranged in topic from agricultural-related knowledge and techniques (how to select rice varieties for shifting cultivation) to health care (how to cure a minor case of diarrhea in children), to their children’s education (“my son is now is in third grade, how about yours?”) to religious issues (a ceremony that was taking place in two days was discussed).

From these examples, it can be seen that as well as mobilizing labor to resolve agricultural problems, traditional reciprocal labor systems provide an opportunity for villagers to gather together, discuss ideas, exchange information, and learn new skills and practices. These systems are not simple; they are complex social organizations that require communication, negotiation and regulation to function efficiently. In the next section I will discuss the schedule and rate of compensation of one of many traditional reciprocal labor exchanges that I observed in Sambo village.