Does the ‘depressor’ still work? Agrarian structure and development in India: A review of evidence and argument

Abstract

The article reviews evidence on agrarian change in India, including studies of the impact of the ‘green revolution’, of agrarian politics, and of rural labour. The classic thesis proposed by Daniel Thorner concerning the existence of a built‐in ‘depressor’ in Indian agriculture is then examined in the light of recent evidence and argument. It is suggested that the thesis, like much of the literature on agrarian structure and change in India, crucially neglects the way in which agrarian processes are influenced by larger political economic forces, Taking a dialectical view of change must mean reversing this neglect of power and politics.

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