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:

• question mainstream prescriptions;

• interrogate orthodoxies in radical thinking;

• 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.