EP18 - Agrarian Populism and the Farmers Protests in India ft. Shreya Sinha

Introduction to Political Economy

The farmer's movement in India continues massive protests against the new farm laws introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under prime minister Narendra Modi. Some critics have alleged that the farmers' unions leading the protests represent the "rich farmers" who dominate the countryside, oppressing poor farmers and landless labourers. Labourers, moreover, tend to belong to different castes and face oppression on that axis as well. But because they speak in the name of all rural groups these farmers' unions are often described as "agrarian populist."

What kinds of contradictions exist in the countryside between classes and castes? Is the current farmers' movement bridging the interests of different classes and castes? What differences exist among farmers' unions and why?

I'm joined by Dr. Shreya Sinha, reviews editor at the Journal of Agrarian Change, to discuss these questions.

Music by Zobu. Edited by Mhd. Ali.