This collection of fourteen essays presents a unique comparative analysis of agrarian change in the main rice-growing regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Its central theme is the interplay between agrarian relations and wider political-economic systems. By drawing on historical materials as well as intensive field research, the contributors show how local-level mechanisms of labor control and accumulation both reflect and alter larger political and economic forces. The key to understanding these connections lies in the structure and exercise of power at different levels of society.
The approach developed in this volume grows out of a set of detailed local-level studies in regions that have experienced rapid technological change and commercialization. This comparative focus calls into question widely held views of technology and the growth of markets as the chief sources of agrarian change. By relating local-level processes to variations in the structure of state power, the history of agrarian resistance, and the particular forms of capitalist development, the authors suggest an alternative approach to the analysis of agrarian change.
Language
English
Format
Paperback
Publisher
University of California Press
Release
February 12, 1992
ISBN
0520078845
ISBN 13
9780520078840
Agrarian Transformations: Local Processes and the State in Southeast Asia
This collection of fourteen essays presents a unique comparative analysis of agrarian change in the main rice-growing regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Its central theme is the interplay between agrarian relations and wider political-economic systems. By drawing on historical materials as well as intensive field research, the contributors show how local-level mechanisms of labor control and accumulation both reflect and alter larger political and economic forces. The key to understanding these connections lies in the structure and exercise of power at different levels of society.
The approach developed in this volume grows out of a set of detailed local-level studies in regions that have experienced rapid technological change and commercialization. This comparative focus calls into question widely held views of technology and the growth of markets as the chief sources of agrarian change. By relating local-level processes to variations in the structure of state power, the history of agrarian resistance, and the particular forms of capitalist development, the authors suggest an alternative approach to the analysis of agrarian change.