Rural society in Southeast India

This book is a comparative study of caste and class in two villages in the Thanjavur district of southeast India based on fieldwork done by the author in 1951-3. Differing from the usual vil lage study. Gough's work traces the history of villages over the past century and examines the impact of colonialism on the district since 1770. The volume's theoretical significance lies in its attempt to define more clearly the characteristics of rural class relations, particularly addressing the question whether Indian agrarian relations are still precapitalist. The author discusses the vil lagers' changing internal class relations in the context of changes in the larger structures of the district, state, and nation, and argues that villag ers have definitely been incorporated into a wid er, more modern class structure. She then por trays the effects of this development on internal power relations, status rankings, judicial pro cesses, and political party affiliations.

Gough examines the economic impact of colo nial rule and the resultant changes in class struc ture, describing the district's transition from a relatively self-contained and prosperous small kingdom to an agrarian hinterland that exports rice and labor to more developed areas. She goes on to describe socioeconomic life and relations in the villages of Kumbapeṭṭai and Kirippur, with a comparative analysis of their social struc tures and internal and external political econo mies. The book also deals with the revolutionary potential of various classes of villagers in India by examining the organization of the Communist movement in this region in the 1950s, and the conditions in which villages retain or dissolve traditional hierarchies of authority through caste assemblies.