Small modern farmers: Neither peasants nor fully‐fledged capitalists?

This article discusses several previous attempts to theorise the so‐called capitalised family farm, and proposes an alternative approach to the subject. Petty capitalist production is posited as a category embracing all productive forms experiencing capital accumulation and worked by their owners with some hiring of additional labourers. The varied geneses, trajectories and performances of these productive forms are explained by means of a multiple determination in which market structures and forms of regulation play a significant role. The theoretical inquiry is briefly illustrated by historical data from five Venezuelan case studies.     

The rise and fall and rise of populism in Venezuela

The article seeks to outline the main elements through which a populist political order was built in Venezuela. It will be done, first by looking at the golden years a of Venezuelan populism (1945–1948). It will be argued that the constitution of populist politics meant: an appeal to the people, the articulation of new social relations and constitution of new political identities. Then it will turn to the latter Pérez and Caldera showing the basic schemes of their governments. They sought to reconstitute politics and reshape political identities in a new populist way. The arrival of Chávez at power and the first months of his government are also analysed.