Agrarian Transformations: Local Processes and the State in Southeast Asia

This collection of fourteen essays presents a unique comparative analysis of agrarian change in the main rice-growing regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Its central theme is the interplay between agrarian relations and wider political-economic systems. By drawing on historical materials as well as intensive field research, the contributors show how local-level mechanisms of labor control and accumulation both reflect and alter larger political and economic forces. The key to understanding these connections lies in the structure and exercise of power at different levels of society. The approach developed in this volume grows out of a set of detailed local-level studies in regions that have experienced rapid technological change and commercialization. This comparative focus calls into question widely held views of technology and the growth of markets as the chief sources of agrarian change. By relating local-level processes to variations in the structure of state power, the history of agrarian resistance, and the particular forms of capitalist development, the authors suggest an alternative approach to the analysis of agrarian change.

Gillian Hart is Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley; Benjamin White is at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague; Andrew Turton is at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Brian Fegan is in the Department of Anthropology, Macquarie University, Sydney; and Lim Teck Ghee is at the Institute for Advanced Study, University of Malaysia.