Understanding green revolutions

In the past two decades peasant societies in the Third World have undergone changes which are often regarded as sweeping and unparalleled; rapid population growth, progressive integration into the market economy and a Green Revolution in agricultural technology. This book is a critical examination of the truth behind these stereotypes.

Twenty-one specialists in the field of development studies look at the reality of agrarian change, either through historical analysis, or through in-depth village field-work, or from their experience as development planners. The first four chapters provide the historical context of agrarian change in India, Latin America and pre-industrial Europe. These are followed by eight detailed case studies of the impact of the Green Revolution at village level in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The book finishes with six analyses of the effectiveness of government policies

designed to intervene in the deve ppment process in South Asia and in East Africa.

The contributors to this book share a commitment to an interdisciplinary approach to the study of development problems. When analysed at micro-scale these problems are shown to be simultaneously ecological, technological, cultural and economic in nature. The analysis provides a firm basis for answering such questions as How has the Green Revolution been absorbed in peasant societies subject to other opportunities and constraints? Which sections of society are benefiting from the current processes of agrarian

change?

How can development planning be rendered more effective in rural areas subject to transformations which are rapidly becoming revolutionary, but not Green Revolutionary, in character?

These studies represent an important contribution to the current debate on Third World development.