article
Reexamining choice, dependency and command in the Tibetan social system: 'tax appendages' and other landless serfs
Tibetan journal • XI (4) • Published In 1986 • Pages: 79-113
By: Goldstein, Melvyn C..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The author examines Tibetan social structure and serfdom and argues that despite the flexibility of the system and opportunities for social mobility, serf-like social relations did exist in Tibet, albeit different than the feudal West. The author examines the understanding of serfdom in the West and the literature that argues for a non-serf Tibetan society. He then examines in detail the estate/serf system based on seven case studies. The Tibetan serf, or MISER, may not be directly tied to the land but his labor is controlled by the the lord through a human-lease, tax appendage system.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Labor relations
- Serfdom and peonage
- Household
- Prophets and ascetics
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tibetans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2009
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1985
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1925-1985
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- central Tibet
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Melvyn C. Goldstein
- Includes bibliographical references (p.111-112)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 76913244
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tibet (China)--Ethnology