Peasant Movements in Post-Colonial India: Dynamics of Mobilization and Identity

The central concern of this book is to examine, in a comparative framework, the ways in which grassroots mobilizations transform and institutionalize themselves, forge new collective identities and articulate new strategies for survival and resistance. Debal K. Singha Roy focuses on three major radical movements-Tebhaga and Naxalite in West Bengal and Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. Based on empirical data and supported by a wide range of secondary sources, the author argues that as spontaneous expressions of discontent against oppression, domination and marginalisation turn into institutionalized movements, the space for radical challenge shrinks. As exemplified in West Bengal, the co-option of peasant movements by the state has largely stifled the scope for radical action. In Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, the relative independence of the grassroots mobilization process has allowed the peasantry to exercise multiple options for collective action. In both states, however, sustained grassroots mobilizations have led to a transformation of the social identity of the peasantry. The author points out that along with these mobilizations, various other groups-including NGOs, civil liberties, women, ethnic, linguistic and farmers-are also working among peasants paving the way for the articulation of new issues and multiple new identities. The result is the creation of a social environment wherein the peasants have been conscientised to raise questions, both individually and collectively, about issues of oppression and marginalisation as also to articulate forms of resistance against domination. This study of the Indian experience is placed in the context of theories of peasant identity and resistance to domination. Based on in-depth field data, case studies and interviews combined with a nuanced theoretical approach, this book will be of considerable interest to political scientists, sociologists, historians, anthropologists and all those studying grassroots movements.