98 – Land, Labour and Capital: Exploring the Contemporary Agrarian Question in South Asia
Scholars studying agrarian transition in the countries of the global south have discussed the existence of dynamism within agriculture, the possibility of varied solutions to the agrarian question and multiple transition pathways of agrarian change. By spotlighting the economic dynamism and differentiation at work in the rural economy, the panel aims to explore the contemporary processes of agrarian change in South Asia, and the implications of intensifying capitalist development on agrarian lives and livelihoods.
The panel seeks an interdisciplinary investigation of the social relations and dynamics of production, property and power in agrarian and labour relations. Restructuring of production and exchange in agriculture and the resultant reconfiguration of the ways in which households reproduce themselves in this part of the world necessitate developing new approaches to studying agrarian change as well as adding new strands of empirical work to unpack the nature of the contemporary agrarian question. Interactions between caste, class, and marginalised communities in the rural, peasant autonomy, deagrarianisation, repeasantisation and emergent patterns of migration, urbanisation and non-farm employment are of particular interest.
The panel invites theoretical and empirical papers that discuss the processes and trajectories of agrarian change in South Asia and speak to the problematics of production, accumulation and politics, and welcomes contributions from economists, historians, anthropologists and other related disciplines.