Drawing on a study of small‐and large‐scale bakeries in the pre‐and post‐communist periods in a small city in eastern Germany, we analyze the ambiguous roles hegemonies—communism before 1990 and capitalism after the unification of the two Germanies—have played in the lives of artisans. We propose a model of hegemony that emphasizes the role of agents other than "organic intellectuals." We conclude that, in order to survive, a hegemony may adapt to competing ideologies and interests by attempting to incorporate aspects of previous traditions that manifest themselves in daily behavior even when these are antithetical to the basic tenets of the hegemony and may ultimately contribute to its demise, [hegemony, economic change, artisans, small‐scale enterprises, eastern Germany]

This article, based on our research in eastern Germany, examines the manner in which farmers-including managers of the cooperatives that emerged out of former agricultural collectives, newly independent eastern German individual farmers, and newcomers from the Westdefine their roles and identities in the newly unified German state. We analyze this process within a framework that combines socialinteractional, social network, and cognitive models, taking into account fluidity and contradictions in behavior and in its symbolization. Identity formation unfolds in an arena characterized by competition for land based on differential access to various sources of power. Historical identities from the pre-communist past, the recent communist past, and those developed in western Germany during the period of separation all provide the basis for emerging identities. The logic and reality of this redefinition are embedded in wider political and economic interests that are themselves inconsistent and in flux.

Social class relationships in Spanish Galicia are viewed in the light of the region's long history of exploitation first by the Church and later by inter ests in areas of Spain with long traditions in commerce and industry. Extensive networks of interpersonal relationships between rural parishes and among mi grants to Latin America and Central Europe as well as a common language and cultural heritage have led to strong ethnic identification. In contrast marginali zation, small-scale farming, the absence of agricultural wage labor, and strong rural-urban ties including interclass kin ties have prevented the formation of a strong class consciousness. Recent political developments reveal both the con straints these factors place upon concerted action and incipient opportunities for socio-political change.