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A leading journal in the field of rural politics and development, The Journal of Peasant Studies ( JPS) provokes and promotes critical thinking about social structures, institutions, actors and processes of change in and in relation to the rural world. It fosters inquiry into how agrarian power relations between classes and other social groups are created, understood, contested and transformed. JPS pays special attention to questions of ‘agency’ of marginalized groups in agrarian societies, particularly their autonomy and capacity to interpret – and change – their conditions.
The Journal encourages contributions from across the social sciences which:
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question mainstream prescriptions;
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interrogate orthodoxies in radical thinking;
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explore theoretical, policy and political alternatives.
The Journal welcomes contributions on a wide range of contemporary and historical questions and perspectives related to rural politics and development; on issues that confront peasants, farmers, rural labourers, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, forest dwellers, pastoralists, fisherfolk and rural youth – both female and male – in different parts of the world.
In addition to articles and special issues, the Journal publishes Grassroots Voices – views that are written and presented in a non-academic style but provide important insights and information relevant to critical rural development studies; and Reviews of important theoretical or policy-oriented books or films written for diverse audiences. For more information about Grassroots Voices and Reviews, see here.
JPS was founded in 1973 on the initiative of Terence J. Byres and its first editors were Byres, Charles Curwen and Teodor Shanin who are among the most important agrarian political economists.
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Resources
Displaying 1 - 5 of 21The politics of mechanisation in Zimbabwe: tractors, accumulation and agrarian change
This article explores whether mechanisation affects patterns of accumulation and differentiation in Zimbabwe's post land reform where policy consistently disadvantages smallholders. Is the latest mechanisation wave any different? The article considers dynamics of tractor access and accumulation trajectories across and within land use types in Mvurwi area. Larger, richer and well-connected farmers draw on patronage networks to access tractors and accumulate further. Some small to medium-scale farmers generate surpluses and invest in tractors or pay for services.
Defending Shan State's customary tenure systems from below through collective action research
Much of rural Myanmar remains under local Customary Tenure Systems (CTS), particularly in upland ethnic areas. Yet CTS lack legal recognition and are increasingly vulnerable to appropriation. This paper examines how, since 2016, communities and civil society organisations (CSOs) across Shan State have organised to document their CTS as a basis for advocacy. Findings confirm CTS remain prevalent and valued, but communities are experiencing increasing pressure, through both gradual erosion, and direct appropriation. Communities and CSOs demand statutory recognition and protections.
Emerging ‘agrarian climate justice’ struggles in Myanmar
The intersection between land grabs and climate change mitigation politics in Myanmar has created new political opportunities for scaling up, expanding and deepening struggles toward ‘agrarian climate justice’. Building on the concepts of ‘political opportunities’ and ‘rural democratization’ to understand how rural politics is relevant to national regime changes in the process of deepening democracy, this paper argues that scaling up beyond the local level becomes necessary to counter the concentration of power at higher levels.
From resolving land disputes to agrarian justice – dealing with the structural crisis of plantation agriculture in eastern DR Congo
Land disputes in conflict-affected settings are often considered as a security threat, to be addressed through mediation and strengthening the rule of law. This overlooks the roots of land conflicts in longer-term processes of agrarian development and worsening conditions of land and labour access. A case-study of a dispute between former plantation labourers and concession holders in eastern DR Congo shows mediation's incapacity to counter perceived structural injustices in land access and difficulties in making a living.
Shifting frontiers: the making of Matopiba in Brazil and global redirected land use and control change
There are not fixed conditions that make potential agricultural frontiers attractive to capital: different spaces and strategies are chosen in relation to previous failed experiments, including those strongly contested by social movements. Socio-environmental contestations can also inadvertently result in negative spillovers, or a kind of indirect land use change. I propose a concept of:redirected:land use and control change for cases with strategic adaptations by promoters of frontiers.