A Second Look at Limited Good

Because of the controversy which has arisen since the original article on Limited Good was published in 1965, the author questions here whether or not it is a plausible model to explain peasant behavior and if he has made himself clear in describing it The nature of peasant behavior is not in dispute. Further clarification stresses that the model is not exclusive to peasant societies; that it is a model inferred from behavior; that it explains classic, not modernizing, peasant society; that peasant society is not a closed system; and that exceptions to the rule of Limited Good include religious prestige and intense emotional experiences. The author maintains that the cognitive orientation of Limited Good goes farther than any other model yet advanced to explain peasant behavior.

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