Peasant movement
Encyclopedia
Peasant movement is a social movement
involved with the agricultural policy
.
Peasants movement have a long history that can be traced to the numerous peasant uprisings that occurred in various regions of the world throughout human history. Early peasant movements were usually the result of stresses in the feudal and semi feudal societies, and resulted in violent uprisings. More recent movements, fitting the definitions of social movements, are usually much less violent, and their demands are centered around better prices for agricultural produce, better wages and working conditions for the agricultural laborers, and increasing the agricultural production.
The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar
under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights. Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India
. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha
(AIKS) at the Lucknow
session of the Indian National Congress
in April 1936 with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
elected as its first President.
D. D. Kosambi
and R.S. Sharma, together with Daniel Thorner
, brought peasants into the study of Indian history for the first time."
Anthony Pereira, a political scientist, has defined a peasant movement as a "social movement made up of peasants (small landholders or farm workers on large farms), usually inspired by the goal of improving the situation of peasants in a nation or territory".
, when economic policies resulted in the ruin of traditional handicrafts leading, change of ownership and overcrowding of land, and massive debt and impoverishment of peasantry. This led to peasant uprisings during the colonial period, and development of peasant movements in the post-colonial period.
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
involved with the agricultural policy
Agricultural policy
Agricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets...
.
Peasants movement have a long history that can be traced to the numerous peasant uprisings that occurred in various regions of the world throughout human history. Early peasant movements were usually the result of stresses in the feudal and semi feudal societies, and resulted in violent uprisings. More recent movements, fitting the definitions of social movements, are usually much less violent, and their demands are centered around better prices for agricultural produce, better wages and working conditions for the agricultural laborers, and increasing the agricultural production.
The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati , born in a Jijhoutia Brahminfamily of Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh state of India, was an ascetic of Dashnami Order of Adi Shankara Sampradaya as well as a nationalist and peasant leader of India...
who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights. Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha
All India Kisan Sabha
All India Kisan Sabha , was the name of the peasants front of the undivided Communist Party of India , an important peasant movement formed by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati in 1936, and which later split into two organizations, by the same name.-History:...
(AIKS) at the Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
session of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
in April 1936 with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati , born in a Jijhoutia Brahminfamily of Ghazipur of Uttar Pradesh state of India, was an ascetic of Dashnami Order of Adi Shankara Sampradaya as well as a nationalist and peasant leader of India...
elected as its first President.
D. D. Kosambi
D. D. Kosambi
Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi was an Indian mathematician, statistician, Marxist historian, and polymath who contributed to genetics by introducing Kosambi's map function. He is well-known for his work in numismatics and for compiling critical editions of ancient Sanskrit texts...
and R.S. Sharma, together with Daniel Thorner
Daniel Thorner
Daniel Thorner was an American-born economist known for his work on agricultural economics and Indian economic history. He is known for the application of historical and contemporary economic analysis on policy and influenced agricultural policy in India in the 1950s through his association with...
, brought peasants into the study of Indian history for the first time."
Anthony Pereira, a political scientist, has defined a peasant movement as a "social movement made up of peasants (small landholders or farm workers on large farms), usually inspired by the goal of improving the situation of peasants in a nation or territory".
India
Peasant movement in India arose during the British colonial periodBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, when economic policies resulted in the ruin of traditional handicrafts leading, change of ownership and overcrowding of land, and massive debt and impoverishment of peasantry. This led to peasant uprisings during the colonial period, and development of peasant movements in the post-colonial period.
Further movement
- Mark I. Lichbach, What makes Rational Peasants Revolutionary?: Dilemma, Paradox, and Irony in Peasant Collective Action, World Politics, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Apr., 1994), pp. 383-418
- M. Edelman, Bringing the Moral Economy back in... to the Study of 21st-Century Transnational Peasant Movements, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, 2005, VOL 107; PART 3, pages 331-345
- E. J. Hobsbawm, Peasants and politics, Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 1, Issue 1 October 1973 , pages 3 - 22
- Marcus J. Kurtz, Understanding peasant revolution: From concept to theory and case, Theory and Society, Volume 29, Number 1 / February, 2000
- Henry A Landsberger, Rural protest : peasant movements and social change, Barnes and Noble, 1973, ISBN 0064940292
- P. McMichael, Reframing Development: Global Peasant Movements and the New Agrarian Question, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, 2006, VOL 27; NUMB 4, pages 471-486
- James C. Scott, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, Yale University Press, 1985