Wage Labour and Unfreedom in Agriculture
An Indian Case Study
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:14th Feb '91
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book addresses the question of how it is that so much growth and technical change can take place in agriculture and yet leave the position of agricultural labourers relatively unchanged. Much has been written on farmers and employers in LDC agriculture, but little that focuses on employees - this book will thus stimulate contribution to the study of labour markets and to development studies. In an area described as in the vanguard of agricultural development in Southern India, the author shows in some detail how limited the changes in the situation of labourers have been as agriculture has developed, and how serious the constraints still are. There is full discussion of central concerns such as the increase in numbers and proportions of agricultural labourers, the stagnation and marginal decline of wage rates and earnings, the property-less status of agricultural labourers, consumption and indebtedness, and labour relationships and processes.
'The book is fascinating, the author is highly pragmatic and the effort is pioneering ... Mr. V. K. Ramachandran has done a laudable job. It is no exaggeration to say that this book will prove a valuable asset to libraries and research institutes. Dr. Ramachandran deserves a Nobel Prize for this book.' C.S. Mahadevan, The Hindu, May 5 1992
`The book should be a good resource to any serious student of development in Asia. It contains a wealth of information, is crammed full of tables and has sufficient detail to really explore the complexity of different forms of labour in India. It also raises questions that have an importance well beyond the geographical boundaries of the study and hopefully the material in it will be carefully considered by those involved in development policy."' Community Development Journal
`This volume is of critical importance' The Economic Times New Delhi
'... important micro-study' Peter Robb. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol LVII
Ramachandran's case that contemporary commercialised labour bears vestiges of its past in unexceptionable. His close and painstaking research provides a comprehensive and compassionate picture of the immediate world of workers in the historically-contextualised Valley. * Journal of Peasant Studies *
ISBN: 9780198286479
Dimensions: 238mm x 163mm x 24mm
Weight: 776g
344 pages