Quelques problèmes de micro-histoire d'une société locale. Construction de liens sociaux dans la paroisse de Beim (XVIIe-XIXe siècles)

Micro-History of Local Society : Construction of Social Ties in the Parish of Beim (17th- 19th Centuries). On the basis of family reconstitution, linked to census lists, cadasters and other records, it is possible to reconstruct the life courses, family histories and kinship networks for all the inhabitants of local society. The parish of Beim near the town of Osnabrück in Northwest Germany is marked by strong inequality between minority of peasants with large land holdings and the majority of landless peasants, who were labourers, tenants and linen producers at the same time. This article seeks to analyse the relations between the individual families of the two classes in detail by examining economic ties like land-lease, labour and credit, as well as social ties like kinship and godparenthood. Both mobility and stability can be assessed : the micro-historical approach helps to better understand both the coherence and the tensions in local society.Schlumbohm Jürgen, Meur Diane. Quelques problèmes de micro-histoire d'une société locale. Construction de liens sociaux dans la paroisse de Beim (XVIIe-XIXe siècles). In: Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales. 50ᵉ année, N. 4, 1995. pp. 775-802