Agrarian struggles in India after independence / edited by A. R. Desai

This book focuses attention on the vast number of agrarian struggles which mushroomed after India became independent. The editor ascribes many of the conflicts to certain policies of the Congress Government, like those related to

land reforms. The volume consists of twenty-five articles. These are written by scholars as well as

activists and give a flavour of grass-root authenticity. Some rare documents such the 'Countrywide Civil Disobedience Movement', also feature here.

The book is divided into two parts. The first consists of eight articles on agrarian struggles written from an all-India perspective. These discuss problems which affect the agrarian structure of the country as a whole. The second part contains seventeen articles which provide a closer look at the struggle of the rural poor in their regional contexts. Variations in the struggles reflect cultural and historical variations in the different regions, even when the form and content of the struggles are remarkably similar.

This volume complements A. R. Desai's earlier compilation Peasant Struggles (OUP, 1979). Together they encompass both the range and the complexity of problems pertaining to rural India.