Capitalism and Agrarian Change: Class, Production and Reproduction in Indonesia

Small-scale agricultural producers in the peripheral world are often assumed to be a single social class, but this book demonstrates that they have been differentiated into different agrarian classes by exploitation. It compares two different contexts of local agrarian change in Indonesia, revealing the different class locations of the agrarian classes and the class relations between them, which are often linked to gender, clanship, and generational issues. The power of class dynamics shapes how agricultural production is organized, and the share received by different agrarian classes from the production site shapes the different nature of class reproduction for each class. This analysis provides a significant contribution to the literature on agrarian change, the political economy of development, rural development, and Marxist political economy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 17 November 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Small-scale agricultural producers in the periphery are often assumed to be a single social class, the peasantry, to be pitted against the state or corporation. This book challenges this idealistic view by demonstrating that under current capitalist social relations, these agricultural producers have been differentiated into different agrarian classes through exploitation. By comparing two different contexts of local agrarian change in Indonesia, rice cultivation in Java and oil palm in Sumatra, this book exposes the different class locations of the agrarian classes among petty agricultural producers and the class relations between them. These class relations are often inextricably linked to gender, clanship, and generational issues. The power of class dynamics crucially shapes how agricultural production in both rice and oil palm is organized. The share received by different agrarian classes from the production site then prominently shapes the different nature of class reproduction for each agrarian class. This analysis demonstrates that the different agrarian classes possess different capacities and responses in their relation to the state or corporations. Any real emancipation attempt in the Indonesian countryside (and beyond) must start from a proper understanding of these class dynamics. This book makes a significant contribution to the literature on agrarian change, the political economy of development, rural development, and Marxist political economy.

Weight: 680g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032212173