The Political Economy of Uneven Rural Development

The book shows how class relations develop and is a consequence of capitalist development of the rural non-agricultural/non-farm sector (RNFS)---seen as the dialectical relation between the forces and relations of production---as mediated by the state, which produces uneven social and spatial outcomes. Central to the framework for this book are four inter-related conceptual building blocks or themes: social relations of production, productive forces, role of the state and concrete development outcomes of capitalist production in RNFS in the context of class and non-class relations of oppressions. These four conceptual themes follow a logical sequence where each concept evolve in specific contexts within the RNFS; while connected to each other in a dialectical manner; and come together to form the central argument of the book.

Provides a political economic analysis of the historical-geographical development of capitalist social relations and forces of production in non-agricultural activities, within rural spaces in India Examines how the effects of class relations on workers, small-scale producers, and entrepreneurs within the Coir Industry in Kerala, an important form of rural nonfarm activity in India, are modified at a concrete level by non-class relations like gender and caste relations Critically engages with current rural economic development policies of rural nonfarm industrialization in the context of neoliberal globalization and seeks to advance policy recommendation for rural development in India

Autorentext

Sudarshana Bordoloi is an Assistant Professor of Geography at Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA. Prior to joining Minnesota State University, Mankato, she was employed as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at St Cloud State University, Minnesota from 2014 to 2018. Dr. Bordoloi graduated with a PhD in Geography from York University, in Toronto, Canada.

Inhalt

Chapter I: Introduction: Context and Methods.- Chapter II: Literature Review on the Rural Nonagricultural/Nonfarm Sector.- Chapter III: Conceptualizing the Rural Nonfarm Sector: A Critique and Reconstruction.- Chapter IV: The Rural Nonagricultural Sector in Less Developed Countries and India: An Overview of the Data.- Chapter V: Relations of Production in the Coir Industry in Kerala: The significance of Class, Gender, Caste, and Place.- Chapter VI: Productive Forces in the Coir Industry: Labor Process, Socio-spatial Organization of Work, and Technology.- Chapter VII: State Development Policies for the Rural Nonagricultural Sector in India and Kerala: Colonial, Post-colonial, and Neoliberal Periods.- Chapter VIII: Development Implications of the Coir Industry: Employment, Wages, Social Implications and Class Struggles.- Chapter IX: Conclusion.