The members of the community of Altopascio fell within three classes, the peasantry, the leaseholders, and the notables. The term ‘class’ will not be used to identify groups of comparable income, but rather persons who share the same general relationship to the productive process. That relationship not only constitutes a common interest among members of the group but it also serves to differentiate the group from other ‘classes’ of the society with their own particular role in the system of production.

The peasants were the primary producers of the estate's revenues, so it is only fitting that a discussion of social classes and social structure should begin with them.

What, though, do we mean by ‘peasantry’? It is a start, but surely not enough, to describe peasants as rural cultivators. The anthropologist Professor Eric Wolf has made a distinction between peasants and other rural cultivators. Peasants are not farmers, i.e., entrepreneurs engaged in the business of commercial agriculture. The peasant is instead primarily occupied in satisfying the subsistence needs of his household. Professor Wolf also makes a helpful distinction between peasants and primitives: