Abstract

The structural transformations of Western economies and societies have made obsolete the agrarian question, as it was defined at the end of the xix century and up to the age of "welfare capitalism". Starting from this hypothesis, the author analyzes the metamorphosis of the agrarian question both in Europe and in the South of the world, highlighting how the critique of the prevailing capitalist productive model by peasants concerns both the organizational forms of production and, in general, the relations with the market and the quality of the food. Today this criticism seems to be reinforced by ecological as well as social concerns, because technology applied to agriculture has led to a growing use of production techniques that are harmful to the environment.