R. J. Crampton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541584
- eISBN:
- 9780191719325
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541584.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines Prince Ferdinand's personal rule as Bulgaria's monarch during the period 1896-1912 and the political, social, and economic problems faced by Bulgaria under his regime. The ...
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This chapter examines Prince Ferdinand's personal rule as Bulgaria's monarch during the period 1896-1912 and the political, social, and economic problems faced by Bulgaria under his regime. The restoration of relations with Russia in 1896 meant that at last Bulgarian political life could return to some form of normality and stability. Politicians exiled for their opposition to Prince Ferdinand and his minister president Stefan Stambolov were allowed to return and in 1898 the contentious issue of the pro-Russian Bulgarian officers who had left the country in 1886-1887 was at last solved. Their return was greeted by the population at large, but resented by many army officers who had remained in Bulgaria and who regarded their former colleagues as little more than deserters, nor could they be unaware that because many of those who had left held senior ranks, their return would produce promotion congestion.Less
This chapter examines Prince Ferdinand's personal rule as Bulgaria's monarch during the period 1896-1912 and the political, social, and economic problems faced by Bulgaria under his regime. The restoration of relations with Russia in 1896 meant that at last Bulgarian political life could return to some form of normality and stability. Politicians exiled for their opposition to Prince Ferdinand and his minister president Stefan Stambolov were allowed to return and in 1898 the contentious issue of the pro-Russian Bulgarian officers who had left the country in 1886-1887 was at last solved. Their return was greeted by the population at large, but resented by many army officers who had remained in Bulgaria and who regarded their former colleagues as little more than deserters, nor could they be unaware that because many of those who had left held senior ranks, their return would produce promotion congestion.
David Stone
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199247769
- eISBN:
- 9780191714818
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199247769.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the demesne farm of Wisbech Barton during the early 14th century, a period often viewed as the demographic and economic turning point of the Middle Ages. It reveals that reeves ...
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This chapter examines the demesne farm of Wisbech Barton during the early 14th century, a period often viewed as the demographic and economic turning point of the Middle Ages. It reveals that reeves responded to the challenges of this time, including the agrarian crisis of 1315-22 and the price deflation of the 1330s and 1340s, with remarkable flexibility and proficiency. Annual changes to the acreage sown with cash crops were determined by actual and relative prices and this sensitivity to market forces helped keep farm income buoyant. Most importantly, the intensity with which land was farmed was deliberately reduced as economic conditions deteriorated, with the effect that crop yields were reduced. Soils at Wisbech may well have been less fertile on the eve of the Black Death, but the responsibility for this lay not with the overuse of land or a lack of technological knowledge, but rather with rational decision-making.Less
This chapter examines the demesne farm of Wisbech Barton during the early 14th century, a period often viewed as the demographic and economic turning point of the Middle Ages. It reveals that reeves responded to the challenges of this time, including the agrarian crisis of 1315-22 and the price deflation of the 1330s and 1340s, with remarkable flexibility and proficiency. Annual changes to the acreage sown with cash crops were determined by actual and relative prices and this sensitivity to market forces helped keep farm income buoyant. Most importantly, the intensity with which land was farmed was deliberately reduced as economic conditions deteriorated, with the effect that crop yields were reduced. Soils at Wisbech may well have been less fertile on the eve of the Black Death, but the responsibility for this lay not with the overuse of land or a lack of technological knowledge, but rather with rational decision-making.
D. Narasimha Reddy and Srijit Mishra (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book contains chapters that deal with the agricultural crisis in India. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the macroeconomic and micro-level issues associated with the crisis, as well as ...
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This book contains chapters that deal with the agricultural crisis in India. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the macroeconomic and micro-level issues associated with the crisis, as well as the underlying historical forces. It examines the factors contributing to the crisis, including environmental degradation, the decrease in landholding size, plateauing of crop yields from the present farm technology, and withdrawal of state support. The book shows that rapid growth of India's gross domestic product has not created enough opportunities for rural labour force to make the transition from agriculture to the rapidly growing sectors of the economy. Agricultural transformation has been slow due to low growth of farm productivity, low agricultural prices, inadequate employment opportunities outside agriculture, and low demand for agricultural products due to stagnation of per capita food consumption during 1993–2005. The book presents case studies on farmer suicides and provides insights into their underlying causes, arguing that suicides are symptomatic of a deep-rooted crisis in agriculture. The book claims that agriculture in India can be revived only by addressing two dimensions of the agricultural distress, namely, agricultural development crisis and agrarian crisis. It emphasizes the need to improve public investment in agricultural infrastructure and social overheads such as quality education and health facilities in rural areas.Less
This book contains chapters that deal with the agricultural crisis in India. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the macroeconomic and micro-level issues associated with the crisis, as well as the underlying historical forces. It examines the factors contributing to the crisis, including environmental degradation, the decrease in landholding size, plateauing of crop yields from the present farm technology, and withdrawal of state support. The book shows that rapid growth of India's gross domestic product has not created enough opportunities for rural labour force to make the transition from agriculture to the rapidly growing sectors of the economy. Agricultural transformation has been slow due to low growth of farm productivity, low agricultural prices, inadequate employment opportunities outside agriculture, and low demand for agricultural products due to stagnation of per capita food consumption during 1993–2005. The book presents case studies on farmer suicides and provides insights into their underlying causes, arguing that suicides are symptomatic of a deep-rooted crisis in agriculture. The book claims that agriculture in India can be revived only by addressing two dimensions of the agricultural distress, namely, agricultural development crisis and agrarian crisis. It emphasizes the need to improve public investment in agricultural infrastructure and social overheads such as quality education and health facilities in rural areas.
Roy Hora
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208846
- eISBN:
- 9780191678158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208846.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
Popular animosity towards the landed elite emerged in the 1910s as rural conflict arose on the pampas. The rise of mass politics helped to spread the general view of the large estanciero as a tyrant ...
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Popular animosity towards the landed elite emerged in the 1910s as rural conflict arose on the pampas. The rise of mass politics helped to spread the general view of the large estanciero as a tyrant and exploiter of the worker, lacking any useful function in society. During the post-war decades, the largest entrepreneurs in the country came together in an attempt to reverse the political and economic reforms introduced by Peronism. But in Argentina's semi-industrialized, inward-looking economy, it was not the landowners, but the large industrial entrepreneurs who became the most visible and powerful element within the business elite. This chapter analyses the Argentine landowners' reaction to the Great Depression. It highlights their tenacity at a time when criticism of Argentina's agrarian structures as anachronistic mounted and when the conditions in which they had thrived in the past began to evaporate. It argues the agrarian crisis and industrialization generated pressures that altered the social structure and that by the 1940s the territorial magnates no longer constituted the republic's wealthier group.Less
Popular animosity towards the landed elite emerged in the 1910s as rural conflict arose on the pampas. The rise of mass politics helped to spread the general view of the large estanciero as a tyrant and exploiter of the worker, lacking any useful function in society. During the post-war decades, the largest entrepreneurs in the country came together in an attempt to reverse the political and economic reforms introduced by Peronism. But in Argentina's semi-industrialized, inward-looking economy, it was not the landowners, but the large industrial entrepreneurs who became the most visible and powerful element within the business elite. This chapter analyses the Argentine landowners' reaction to the Great Depression. It highlights their tenacity at a time when criticism of Argentina's agrarian structures as anachronistic mounted and when the conditions in which they had thrived in the past began to evaporate. It argues the agrarian crisis and industrialization generated pressures that altered the social structure and that by the 1940s the territorial magnates no longer constituted the republic's wealthier group.
D. Narasimha Reddy and Srijit Mishra
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter examines the nature and factors contributing to the agrarian crisis and rural distress in India. It shows that the Indian economy remains predominantly rural, with urbanization taking ...
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This chapter examines the nature and factors contributing to the agrarian crisis and rural distress in India. It shows that the Indian economy remains predominantly rural, with urbanization taking place slowly, but that rural-urban disparities in income and living standards continue to widen. As the most important source of livelihood in the countryside, agriculture accounts for a disproportionately high share in the total workforce while its share in the gross national product continues to dwindle. The chapter also investigates the structural changes in employment across various sectors and within rural areas, the political economy of the technological transformation in agriculture, the nature of economic reforms and their impact on agriculture and farmers, and suicides brought about by the agrarian crisis. Finally, the chapter addresses the sustainability of farming in the context of reforms and considers ways in which to solve the agrarian crisis.Less
This chapter examines the nature and factors contributing to the agrarian crisis and rural distress in India. It shows that the Indian economy remains predominantly rural, with urbanization taking place slowly, but that rural-urban disparities in income and living standards continue to widen. As the most important source of livelihood in the countryside, agriculture accounts for a disproportionately high share in the total workforce while its share in the gross national product continues to dwindle. The chapter also investigates the structural changes in employment across various sectors and within rural areas, the political economy of the technological transformation in agriculture, the nature of economic reforms and their impact on agriculture and farmers, and suicides brought about by the agrarian crisis. Finally, the chapter addresses the sustainability of farming in the context of reforms and considers ways in which to solve the agrarian crisis.
K. N. Nair and Vineetha Menon
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter examines agrarian distress, debt, and farmer suicides in three villages in Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala. Agriculture and plantations account for about 35 per cent of the total ...
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This chapter examines agrarian distress, debt, and farmer suicides in three villages in Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala. Agriculture and plantations account for about 35 per cent of the total income in both districts and about 50 per cent of the labour force. Since 2000, Wayanad and Idukki faced severe agrarian crisis resulting in farmer suicides. A marked decline in prices of plantation crops such as coffee, tea, pepper, and cardamom was accompanied by a decline in yields due to pests and poor weather conditions. Compounding the situation were trade liberalization, particularly the free trade agreement with Sri Lanka, and declining state support.Less
This chapter examines agrarian distress, debt, and farmer suicides in three villages in Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala. Agriculture and plantations account for about 35 per cent of the total income in both districts and about 50 per cent of the labour force. Since 2000, Wayanad and Idukki faced severe agrarian crisis resulting in farmer suicides. A marked decline in prices of plantation crops such as coffee, tea, pepper, and cardamom was accompanied by a decline in yields due to pests and poor weather conditions. Compounding the situation were trade liberalization, particularly the free trade agreement with Sri Lanka, and declining state support.
S. Galab, E. Revathi, and P. Prudhvikar Reddy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter presents an account of farmers' suicides in the state of Andhra Pradesh starting in 1996. Based on a survey of several studies, it shows that farmers' distress in the state can be ...
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This chapter presents an account of farmers' suicides in the state of Andhra Pradesh starting in 1996. Based on a survey of several studies, it shows that farmers' distress in the state can be attributed to the increasing fragility of resources, particularly the groundwater resources, as well as unsustainable and inappropriate cropping practices, notably in resource-poor areas. A number of factors were responsible for the agrarian crisis in Andhra Pradesh, including growing input costs, falling farm incomes, increasing dependence on unstable groundwater resources, and volatility of output prices. Another cause was heavy household investment in groundwater, with farmers borrowing from informal sources at high interest rates, causing them to pile up debts. This chapter also discusses the economic reforms in Andhra Pradesh in relation to agriculture, along with institutional retrogression and rural distress.Less
This chapter presents an account of farmers' suicides in the state of Andhra Pradesh starting in 1996. Based on a survey of several studies, it shows that farmers' distress in the state can be attributed to the increasing fragility of resources, particularly the groundwater resources, as well as unsustainable and inappropriate cropping practices, notably in resource-poor areas. A number of factors were responsible for the agrarian crisis in Andhra Pradesh, including growing input costs, falling farm incomes, increasing dependence on unstable groundwater resources, and volatility of output prices. Another cause was heavy household investment in groundwater, with farmers borrowing from informal sources at high interest rates, causing them to pile up debts. This chapter also discusses the economic reforms in Andhra Pradesh in relation to agriculture, along with institutional retrogression and rural distress.
R.S. Deshpande
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Karnataka is a drought-prone region with a large proportion of wastelands, high outstanding agricultural credit from scheduled banks, and high density of marginal and small farmers. These conditions ...
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Karnataka is a drought-prone region with a large proportion of wastelands, high outstanding agricultural credit from scheduled banks, and high density of marginal and small farmers. These conditions could trigger a serious agrarian crisis. In addition, Karnataka is dominated by rain-fed agriculture but has poor irrigation. Under these circumstances, the narrow techno-centred green revolution strategy gave rise to inappropriate cropping patterns in many parts of the state. Agricultural distress is acute in Karnataka's northern dry regions, while the incidence of suicides has been very high since 1997. Aside from indebtedness, farmers' distress in Karnataka can be attributed to lack of proper marketing facilities, increasing stress on natural resources, poor extension services, frequent failure of monsoon and droughts resulting in crop losses, and absence of institutions where farmers could seek counselling.Less
Karnataka is a drought-prone region with a large proportion of wastelands, high outstanding agricultural credit from scheduled banks, and high density of marginal and small farmers. These conditions could trigger a serious agrarian crisis. In addition, Karnataka is dominated by rain-fed agriculture but has poor irrigation. Under these circumstances, the narrow techno-centred green revolution strategy gave rise to inappropriate cropping patterns in many parts of the state. Agricultural distress is acute in Karnataka's northern dry regions, while the incidence of suicides has been very high since 1997. Aside from indebtedness, farmers' distress in Karnataka can be attributed to lack of proper marketing facilities, increasing stress on natural resources, poor extension services, frequent failure of monsoon and droughts resulting in crop losses, and absence of institutions where farmers could seek counselling.
Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199466290
- eISBN:
- 9780199095865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199466290.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
This chapter analyses the reasons underlying the revival of communalism in western UP in the 2000s, culminating in one of the most extremely violent riots in recent decades in UP in Muzaffarnagar and ...
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This chapter analyses the reasons underlying the revival of communalism in western UP in the 2000s, culminating in one of the most extremely violent riots in recent decades in UP in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts in 2013. Two longer-term developments played a key role: sustained construction of everyday communalism by the BJP–RSS at the grass roots from the early 2000s, followed by the long and divisive electoral campaign for the 2014 national elections under Narendra Modi; a deepening agrarian crisis which contributed to the breakdown of the relatively harmonious, socioeconomic relationship between Hindus—primarily Jats—and Muslims in the rural areas, making them highly vulnerable to communal feelings. These shifts allowed the BJP through well-organized and sustained mobilization to deepen the sociopolitical divide between these communities, leading to communal tension and riots. While the former constitutes the political and aggressively visible form, the latter constitutes the underlying political economy aspect.Less
This chapter analyses the reasons underlying the revival of communalism in western UP in the 2000s, culminating in one of the most extremely violent riots in recent decades in UP in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts in 2013. Two longer-term developments played a key role: sustained construction of everyday communalism by the BJP–RSS at the grass roots from the early 2000s, followed by the long and divisive electoral campaign for the 2014 national elections under Narendra Modi; a deepening agrarian crisis which contributed to the breakdown of the relatively harmonious, socioeconomic relationship between Hindus—primarily Jats—and Muslims in the rural areas, making them highly vulnerable to communal feelings. These shifts allowed the BJP through well-organized and sustained mobilization to deepen the sociopolitical divide between these communities, leading to communal tension and riots. While the former constitutes the political and aggressively visible form, the latter constitutes the underlying political economy aspect.
Karam Singh
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter analyses the underlying causes of the agrarian crisis in Punjab, one of the most prosperous states in India. It shows the pronounced deceleration in agricultural growth since the early ...
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This chapter analyses the underlying causes of the agrarian crisis in Punjab, one of the most prosperous states in India. It shows the pronounced deceleration in agricultural growth since the early 1990s and the decline in profitability in agriculture because the cost of inputs has been increasing faster than output prices, coupled with poor or stagnant yields. Other factors responsible for the decline in income from agriculture are the increasing cost of capital equipment such as tractors, the rising cost of irrigation as a result of the sharp drop in the water table, and significant idle capacity in capital equipment. Although farmers' suicides can be attributed to many factors, the main culprit is economic stress due to indebtedness.Less
This chapter analyses the underlying causes of the agrarian crisis in Punjab, one of the most prosperous states in India. It shows the pronounced deceleration in agricultural growth since the early 1990s and the decline in profitability in agriculture because the cost of inputs has been increasing faster than output prices, coupled with poor or stagnant yields. Other factors responsible for the decline in income from agriculture are the increasing cost of capital equipment such as tractors, the rising cost of irrigation as a result of the sharp drop in the water table, and significant idle capacity in capital equipment. Although farmers' suicides can be attributed to many factors, the main culprit is economic stress due to indebtedness.
V. M. Rao
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198069096
- eISBN:
- 9780199080472
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198069096.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Although the crisis in agricultural growth and agrarian crisis are overlapping perspectives, they give rise to contrasting diagnoses of the problems in Indian agriculture. This chapter describes ...
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Although the crisis in agricultural growth and agrarian crisis are overlapping perspectives, they give rise to contrasting diagnoses of the problems in Indian agriculture. This chapter describes farming communities in India as a three-tier pyramid created by government policies over time. Poverty-stricken farmers make up the base of the pyramid, the so-called upwardly mobile farmers (that is, farmers struggling to move up the productivity level but often relegated to the middle) are in the middle, and a small section lobbying for subsidies, and seeking rents or unproductive profits instead of utilizing their potential for entrepreneurship for agricultural growth are at the top. The chapter argues that by providing state support to the upwardly mobile farmers, growth is possible even for those situated at the bottom of the pyramid. It examines case studies of farmers' suicides in five states and suggests critical interventions in terms of credit, extension services, and institutional structure.Less
Although the crisis in agricultural growth and agrarian crisis are overlapping perspectives, they give rise to contrasting diagnoses of the problems in Indian agriculture. This chapter describes farming communities in India as a three-tier pyramid created by government policies over time. Poverty-stricken farmers make up the base of the pyramid, the so-called upwardly mobile farmers (that is, farmers struggling to move up the productivity level but often relegated to the middle) are in the middle, and a small section lobbying for subsidies, and seeking rents or unproductive profits instead of utilizing their potential for entrepreneurship for agricultural growth are at the top. The chapter argues that by providing state support to the upwardly mobile farmers, growth is possible even for those situated at the bottom of the pyramid. It examines case studies of farmers' suicides in five states and suggests critical interventions in terms of credit, extension services, and institutional structure.
Sverre Bagge
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691169088
- eISBN:
- 9781400850105
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691169088.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
This chapter examines the socioeconomic and political consequences of the agrarian crisis triggered by the Black Death and how the Black Death was related to the dynastic unions during the later ...
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This chapter examines the socioeconomic and political consequences of the agrarian crisis triggered by the Black Death and how the Black Death was related to the dynastic unions during the later Middle Ages. It first considers the origins of the union by focusing on the dynastic and political aspects of the Black Death, and in particular the renewed Scandinavian integration during the period 1261–1397. It then discusses the Kalmar Union and the conflicts over it between monarchy and aristocracy in 1434–1523, as well as the reasons for the collapse of the union of the three Scandinavian kingdoms. It also explores state formation in Scandinavia in the later Middle Ages before concluding with an analysis of the Reformation and its consequences during the years 1523–1537.Less
This chapter examines the socioeconomic and political consequences of the agrarian crisis triggered by the Black Death and how the Black Death was related to the dynastic unions during the later Middle Ages. It first considers the origins of the union by focusing on the dynastic and political aspects of the Black Death, and in particular the renewed Scandinavian integration during the period 1261–1397. It then discusses the Kalmar Union and the conflicts over it between monarchy and aristocracy in 1434–1523, as well as the reasons for the collapse of the union of the three Scandinavian kingdoms. It also explores state formation in Scandinavia in the later Middle Ages before concluding with an analysis of the Reformation and its consequences during the years 1523–1537.
Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199466290
- eISBN:
- 9780199095865
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199466290.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more ...
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The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more importantly move beyond riots to analyse the new ways and means whereby communalism in the present phase is being manufactured by the Hindu right. They argue that UP is experiencing a post-Ayodhya phase of communalism markedly different from the late 1980s/early 1990s. The book employs a model of institutionalized everyday communalism whose defining feature is that rather than initiating major, state-wide riots, the strategy of the BJP–RSS currently is to create and sustain constant, low-key communal tension together with frequent, small, low-intensity incidents out of petty everyday issues that institutionalize communalism at the grassroots. The use of this strategy is examined based on extensive fieldwork in the districts of eastern and western UP that experienced major riots. A fusion of rising cultural aspirations and deep economic anxieties in UP, which remains an economically backward state, and where a deepening agrarian crisis, unemployment, poverty, and inequalities are widespread, has created fertile ground for the new kind of communal mobilization. The agenda of the BJP–RSS is political to establish majoritarian rule, but equally important cultural, because India is viewed as fundamentally ‘Hindu’ in a civilizational sense in which Muslims will remain alien. It is through this lens of the new ‘avatar’ of the BJP, its ideology and strategies, and its impact on society and polity that an attempt is made to understand the current round of communalism in UP.Less
The authors analyse the reasons underlying the resurgence of communalism in the 2000s in Uttar Pradesh (UP) leading to riots in Mau in 2005, Gorakhpur in 2007, and Muzaffarnagar in 2013, but more importantly move beyond riots to analyse the new ways and means whereby communalism in the present phase is being manufactured by the Hindu right. They argue that UP is experiencing a post-Ayodhya phase of communalism markedly different from the late 1980s/early 1990s. The book employs a model of institutionalized everyday communalism whose defining feature is that rather than initiating major, state-wide riots, the strategy of the BJP–RSS currently is to create and sustain constant, low-key communal tension together with frequent, small, low-intensity incidents out of petty everyday issues that institutionalize communalism at the grassroots. The use of this strategy is examined based on extensive fieldwork in the districts of eastern and western UP that experienced major riots. A fusion of rising cultural aspirations and deep economic anxieties in UP, which remains an economically backward state, and where a deepening agrarian crisis, unemployment, poverty, and inequalities are widespread, has created fertile ground for the new kind of communal mobilization. The agenda of the BJP–RSS is political to establish majoritarian rule, but equally important cultural, because India is viewed as fundamentally ‘Hindu’ in a civilizational sense in which Muslims will remain alien. It is through this lens of the new ‘avatar’ of the BJP, its ideology and strategies, and its impact on society and polity that an attempt is made to understand the current round of communalism in UP.
Nilotpal Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199466856
- eISBN:
- 9780199087402
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466856.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality, Social Psychology and Interaction
Chapter 7 closes the book by summarizing key findings and arguments advanced and their relevance for the literature on agrarian economy, development, and suicide. It reiterates that crisis of ...
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Chapter 7 closes the book by summarizing key findings and arguments advanced and their relevance for the literature on agrarian economy, development, and suicide. It reiterates that crisis of dry-land production has forced farmers across classes, particularly small and marginal farmers, to take more risk in trying to switch to remunerative horticulture. It has also set up a contradiction between weak production capacities, low incomes, and life cycle specific aspirations for high social and economic mobility through expanded consumption. This plays an important role in aggravating rural indebtedness. There is a concurrent entrenchment of individualism and self-interest as the guiding principle in domestic relations, which is opening up new spaces for familial friction and stress in a cultural system where hierarchical authority in family has been the norm. The chapter argues that rural suicide, whether farm-related or other types, represents a synchronization of anomic and egoistic states in a cultural field that valorizes strong masculinity.Less
Chapter 7 closes the book by summarizing key findings and arguments advanced and their relevance for the literature on agrarian economy, development, and suicide. It reiterates that crisis of dry-land production has forced farmers across classes, particularly small and marginal farmers, to take more risk in trying to switch to remunerative horticulture. It has also set up a contradiction between weak production capacities, low incomes, and life cycle specific aspirations for high social and economic mobility through expanded consumption. This plays an important role in aggravating rural indebtedness. There is a concurrent entrenchment of individualism and self-interest as the guiding principle in domestic relations, which is opening up new spaces for familial friction and stress in a cultural system where hierarchical authority in family has been the norm. The chapter argues that rural suicide, whether farm-related or other types, represents a synchronization of anomic and egoistic states in a cultural field that valorizes strong masculinity.
Nilotpal Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199466856
- eISBN:
- 9780199087402
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466856.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality, Social Psychology and Interaction
‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic ...
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‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic work in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, this book offers a qualified challenge to such explanations. First part of the book describes local transformations that are taking place in interconnected domains of production, consumption, and social relationships. The attempted transition from a century-long involvement in rain-fed groundnut cultivation to groundwater-irrigated horticulture, which is being actively promoted by a pro-market state, has aggravated production-related risks in this fragile ecological zone. The book then explains how production risks contribute to causing anomic frictions amongst local small and middle farmers who aspire to adopt refined lifestyles and consumption practices. Emergent ideas of individualism, competitiveness, and status inequality are stressing familial roles and bonds. A key argument advanced here is that these local processes, their subjective experiences, and the manner in which they are acted upon, are all mediated by the local ideology of masculinity. Against the background of new social and economic processes, the second part of the book suggests that officially certified cases of ‘farmers’ suicides’ are not always marked by ‘farm-related’ economic factors in an objective and uniform manner. In other words, the entire process of production of official statistics of suicide is socially organized. The book concludes by suggesting that ‘farm-related suicides’ relate to the wider field of rural suicides through new ideas and practices around individual and family honour, status inequality, and dignity.Less
‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic work in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, this book offers a qualified challenge to such explanations. First part of the book describes local transformations that are taking place in interconnected domains of production, consumption, and social relationships. The attempted transition from a century-long involvement in rain-fed groundnut cultivation to groundwater-irrigated horticulture, which is being actively promoted by a pro-market state, has aggravated production-related risks in this fragile ecological zone. The book then explains how production risks contribute to causing anomic frictions amongst local small and middle farmers who aspire to adopt refined lifestyles and consumption practices. Emergent ideas of individualism, competitiveness, and status inequality are stressing familial roles and bonds. A key argument advanced here is that these local processes, their subjective experiences, and the manner in which they are acted upon, are all mediated by the local ideology of masculinity. Against the background of new social and economic processes, the second part of the book suggests that officially certified cases of ‘farmers’ suicides’ are not always marked by ‘farm-related’ economic factors in an objective and uniform manner. In other words, the entire process of production of official statistics of suicide is socially organized. The book concludes by suggesting that ‘farm-related suicides’ relate to the wider field of rural suicides through new ideas and practices around individual and family honour, status inequality, and dignity.
Radhika Govindrajan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226559841
- eISBN:
- 9780226560045
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226560045.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter describes how, over the last decade, hundreds of monkeys captured in Delhi and small towns in Uttarakhand have been released into forests across this region to keep them out of contact ...
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This chapter describes how, over the last decade, hundreds of monkeys captured in Delhi and small towns in Uttarakhand have been released into forests across this region to keep them out of contact with people. However, these monkeys are resolutely urban creatures accustomed to living with humans, and soon make their way to the nearest village in search of people and resources. The chapter recounts how the sharp rise in instances of monkey-human conflict has become an urgent social and political issue in Uttarakhand over the last decade. These anxieties about marauding monkeys who are not from the mountains speak volumes about the contemporary politics of belonging in this region. As mountain villagers are dispossessed of their land by outsiders from the plains and face growing unemployment, they relate their status to that of mountain monkeys who are, they argue, similarly driven off their homes by interlopers. What sets these conversations in the Central Himalayas apart from anxieties about invasive species elsewhere in the world, the chapter argues, is a recognition of these outsider monkeys as distinctive individuals within a species, with their own tendencies and desires that sets them apart from local, mountain monkeys.Less
This chapter describes how, over the last decade, hundreds of monkeys captured in Delhi and small towns in Uttarakhand have been released into forests across this region to keep them out of contact with people. However, these monkeys are resolutely urban creatures accustomed to living with humans, and soon make their way to the nearest village in search of people and resources. The chapter recounts how the sharp rise in instances of monkey-human conflict has become an urgent social and political issue in Uttarakhand over the last decade. These anxieties about marauding monkeys who are not from the mountains speak volumes about the contemporary politics of belonging in this region. As mountain villagers are dispossessed of their land by outsiders from the plains and face growing unemployment, they relate their status to that of mountain monkeys who are, they argue, similarly driven off their homes by interlopers. What sets these conversations in the Central Himalayas apart from anxieties about invasive species elsewhere in the world, the chapter argues, is a recognition of these outsider monkeys as distinctive individuals within a species, with their own tendencies and desires that sets them apart from local, mountain monkeys.
Ka-ming Wu
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039881
- eISBN:
- 9780252097997
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039881.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines how Xiaocheng Folk Art Village in Yan'an was transformed into a container of tradition and the practice of paper-cutting into an intangible cultural heritage. It first considers ...
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This chapter examines how Xiaocheng Folk Art Village in Yan'an was transformed into a container of tradition and the practice of paper-cutting into an intangible cultural heritage. It first considers the origin narrative of Xiaocheng Folk Art Village before discussing how China's urban intellectuals in the fields of folklore, religious studies, and anthropology have sought to re-understand the meanings of their work in the broader national and international framework. It then explains how Xiaocheng Folk Art Village emerged as a site of local, national, and international interests, with particular emphasis on the birth of creative rural subjects, reconfigured domestic relations, and a new public life in the village. It also describes the village's democratic struggles over folk art and concludes with an analysis of the politics of cultural authenticity and the invention of tradition in the broader context of intense urbanization and agrarian crisis in China. The chapter argues that heritage making in China is a process of “narrative battle” in which various actors construct differentiated meanings of history and tradition against the official party-state narrative.Less
This chapter examines how Xiaocheng Folk Art Village in Yan'an was transformed into a container of tradition and the practice of paper-cutting into an intangible cultural heritage. It first considers the origin narrative of Xiaocheng Folk Art Village before discussing how China's urban intellectuals in the fields of folklore, religious studies, and anthropology have sought to re-understand the meanings of their work in the broader national and international framework. It then explains how Xiaocheng Folk Art Village emerged as a site of local, national, and international interests, with particular emphasis on the birth of creative rural subjects, reconfigured domestic relations, and a new public life in the village. It also describes the village's democratic struggles over folk art and concludes with an analysis of the politics of cultural authenticity and the invention of tradition in the broader context of intense urbanization and agrarian crisis in China. The chapter argues that heritage making in China is a process of “narrative battle” in which various actors construct differentiated meanings of history and tradition against the official party-state narrative.
Bindu Oberoi
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199469352
- eISBN:
- 9780199087457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199469352.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter analyses the movements in the prices of cotton and non-cotton fibres since 1980–81. It attempts to identify the various determinants of prices of these fibres and analyses their impact ...
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This chapter analyses the movements in the prices of cotton and non-cotton fibres since 1980–81. It attempts to identify the various determinants of prices of these fibres and analyses their impact on the relative price movements during the period. The core argument in Chapter 2 is that the stimulus for the substantial shift from demand for cotton textiles towards synthetic and blended textiles was provided by the changes in the relative price of cotton vis-à-vis synthetic fibres and filament yarns. While the prices of synthetic fibres declined substantially during the 1990s due to reductions in customs duties on the intermediates and raw materials for synthetic fibres, price of cotton continued to remain high as a result of a deep agrarian crisis caused by the movement of international cotton prices and a decline in public investment in agriculture.Less
This chapter analyses the movements in the prices of cotton and non-cotton fibres since 1980–81. It attempts to identify the various determinants of prices of these fibres and analyses their impact on the relative price movements during the period. The core argument in Chapter 2 is that the stimulus for the substantial shift from demand for cotton textiles towards synthetic and blended textiles was provided by the changes in the relative price of cotton vis-à-vis synthetic fibres and filament yarns. While the prices of synthetic fibres declined substantially during the 1990s due to reductions in customs duties on the intermediates and raw materials for synthetic fibres, price of cotton continued to remain high as a result of a deep agrarian crisis caused by the movement of international cotton prices and a decline in public investment in agriculture.
