Peasants and Workers in Tobacco Production in Greece, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Social and Cultural Lives.

Abstract

Tobacco played a major role in the socio-economic development of Greece starting from the period of Ottoman rule. A related cultural history was written by those who took part in economic activities associated with the product. During the nineteenth century, the farmers who were involved in tobacco production, and tobacco-related urban professions, contributed to the formulation of social and cultural identities that had a distinct presence within the spectrum of the stratification of Greek society. During the twentieth century, a broad popular mass of two million local people and refugees helped to shape the various profiles of the social strata linked to tobacco. Customs, habits, traditions, behaviours, mentalities, psychologies, attitudes, life models, all merged with the willingness of people to influence the course of social developments in the country and participate in social movements. The aim of this paper is to examine issues related to various aspects of the relevant social and cultural identities.