Agrarian questions / edited by Kaushik Basu

Themes in Economics is a new series of books devoted to economic analysis relating to problems of the Indian economy.

This volume is a collection of essays which raises questions pertinent to agriculture. In the last two decades there have been rapid advances in the analysis of agrarian economic relations. A large literature has emerged on sharecropping, credit markets, and labour markets (including bondage). Some of the issues examined in this book include power, coercion and freedom (even though these are difficult to formalize and theorize about). The importance of locating the analysis of contracts within the relevant context of socio economic relations is also discussed.

In addition to these theoretical issues, there is an extremely valuable bird's-eye view of the actual experience of Indian agriculture since independence in 1947. Finally, we have a careful study of the link between agriculture and overall economic progress in the Indian context.

This book is compelling reading for all those interested in agrarian economic relations and Indian an agriculture.