Indian peasant uprisings: Myth and reality

A.R. Desai (ed.), Peasant Struggles in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979. Pp.xxv + 772; Rs. 140.

Sunil Sen, Peasant Movements in India: Mid‐Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi, 1982. Pp.275; Rs.75.

D.N. Dhanagare, Peasant Movements in India: 1920–1950, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983. Pp.xii + 254; £12.

This review of some important recent works on peasant movements in India examines four major questions concerning (a) the social locus of rebellions, (b) the role of capitalism and imperialism, (c) the part played by existing state power, and (d) the role of parties or organisations. It is argued that while there is no unchanging social base the disproportionately high degree of tribal participation in armed rebellion may provide some clue to the relative lack of similar participation among the mainstream peasantry, that capitalist imperialism is a multi faceted phenomenon impinging on the peasantry in many ways, that existing state power plays a major part in rebellions, and that a party or organisation is a necessary precondition for any trans‐local or trans‐tribal movement. It concludes by suggesting that varieties of mobilisation within the framework of parliamentary politics should be studied in order to assess the really significant role of the peasantry in the political evolution of post‐independence India.     

Urban Faciality and Thanatos

This essay explores the politics of memorialization and the relationship between grief, death, gesture and public space in the performances of Pia Lindman in New York City between 2002 and 2005.     

Industrial Policies and Development Cooperation for a Learning Society

In the countries that have been most successful in development over the past half century, government played a central role (the development state), especially through industrial policies that promoted manufacturing exports. But changes in the global economy mean that African countries won’t be able to rely on the manufacturing export-led growth model. This paper analyzes the reasons for the success of that model, and shows how the same outcomes can be achieved through a multipronged strategy, a comprehensive development plan that pays particular attention to learning and employment.     

A Golden Week On Horseback

Genghis Khan once said,It is easy to conquer the world from the back of a horse. With this in mind,I confidently mounted my first Mongolian horse at a camp two hours outside of Ulan Bator and settled into the wooden-framed saddle. Choo! I shouted,using the Mongolian     

Fame and Fortress

正Fujian architectural sites see resurgence In the mountainous regions of southeast China lie collections of immense circular compounds, once mistakenly identified in aerial reconnaissance photographs as UFO's or missile silos. Their novel design first attracted architects, and has now found an audience among China's many tourists. Known as earthen buildings, or tulou in Mandarin, the fortresses are made of packed mud, sand, and clay, fortified on the inside