Table of Contents

Neo Farmer Movement in Contemporary India

(Relevant for Sociology Optional for Civil Services Examination)

Introduction:

India has a long history of of farmer movement dating back to colonial times. Those movements were generally considered as peasant movements. However it is being replaced with farmer movement for a simple reason that post-independence the development paradigm has made a new category of market oriented farmers. Recent reforms like green revolution, new technology and government subsidies have created a new category of rich farmers. The struggle of these farmers resorted to in recent years has been conceptualised as NEO FARMER MOVEMENT.

Reasons for Beginning of Neo Farmer Movement

Terms of trade going against the agriculture
Declining purchasing power
Unremunerative prices
Agricultural becoming losing proposition
Increase in input prices
Declining per capita income from agriculture

FEATURES OF NEO FARMER MOVEMENT.

These movements do not believe in romanticising their life style or social life. They are more inclined to economic issues like protests for MSP, Debt waiver etc.
They advocate transcending local boundaries, emphasizing internationalism over narrow nationalism.
Unified and undifferentiated struggle is a key tenet, rejecting the division of social categories based on economic status. This stance prevents them from labelling their movement as solely representing affluent peasants, as they view all social segments aexperiencing poverty due to biased government policies.
Their contention is that successive governments’ biased policies have led to growing rural poverty, leading them to assert that the “debt of the farmer” is a manufactured concept by the government. This declaration manifests in their call for “Kharja Mukti.”
The core objective of the farmers’ movement is analysing backwardness through the lens of achieving fair prices for agricultural products. They believe that remunerative prices can trigger a trickle-down effect, ultimately eradicating rural poverty and underdevelopment.
Gail Omvedt, a prominent researcher on peasant movements, argues that these movements present a novel perspective on exploitation. In contrast to traditional movements, they contend that exploitation is rooted in a larger market system that extends beyond localities, potentially encompassing national or even global markets.
Use of new techniques: like social media ,music and gaining international tractions has been new methods to used by farmers in their movement.

Ideology of the Neo Farmer Movement

Farmers’ movement lacks a singular ideology due to fundamental differences in addressing farmers’ issues.
The Karnataka movement identifies as Gandhian, with some alignment to Dependency theory. It attributes Third World underdevelopment to post-colonial exploitation, including cheap goods, technology dumping, and urban-biased policies.
Maharashtra’s Shetkari Sangathana stands out with its “Bharat versus India” ideology, emphasizing native and traditional values versus exploitation inherited from British colonial rule. Sharad Joshi argues that “India corresponds to that notional entity that has inherited from the British the mantle of economic, social, cultural educational exploitation; on the contrary “Bharat” is that notional entity which is subject to exploitation a second time even after the termination of the external colonial regime
The movement critiques state intervention and supports economic freedom for farmers’ prosperity.

Social base and related criticism of neo farmer movement

These Neo farmer movement are often criticised for their class bias . The Neo Farmer movement are often criticised for their class bias. It is often argued that the Neo Farmer movement is highly biased towards market-oriented farmers than those who are living in the subsistence economy. All through their struggles, these movements have raised such issues which have helped either the rich farmers or the middle farmers. For example, their argument in favour of writing off loans, remunerative prices, declaring agriculture as an industry, abolition of tractor loans etc. ultimately helped the big or the rich/middle peasantry or the farmers.
Even the movements have not addressed the issues beyond irrigated are The issues of non-irrigated areas have received scant focus in their discourse.
It is also said that these movements have never become all caste movement. For example Punjab and Uttar Pradesh movement has become JAT movement. In Tamil Nadu there is very low representation of Dalits and Muslims.
Nonetheless they have not been effective in bringing radical transformation in the country side. This is because of the fact that the neo farmer movement, from the very beginning, were unable to overcome the internal conflicts as well as contradictions. Secondly, they did not carry any radical agenda from within- for example they never bothered to demand radical land reforms, nor were they concerned about the atrocities perpetrated on marginal classes including the Dalits in the country side.

Conclusion:

The neo farmer movement did bring about a paradigm shift in the discourse, analysis and perception about farmers in India. It made the policy makers to address the deep rooted crisis of agriculture as well as agrarian classes in India. It has also helped the farmers to be a part of international movement against such issues as globalisation, imperialism and capitalism.

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Explore Sociology Optional Syllabus

Paper-1

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology – The Discipline
Sociology as Science:
Research Methods and Analysis:
Sociological Thinkers:
Stratification and Mobility:
Works and Economic Life:
1. Social organization of work in different types of society- slave society, feudal society, industrial /capitalist society
2. Formal and informal organization of work.
3. Labour and society.
Politics and Society:
1. Sociological theories of power.
2. Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
3. Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
4. Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
Religion and Society:
1. Sociological theories of religion.
2. Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
3. Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.
Systems of Kinship:
1. Family, household, marriage.
2. Types and forms of family.
3. Lineage and descent.
4. Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
5. Contemporary trends.
Social Change in Modern Society:
1. Sociological theories of social change.
2. Development and dependency.
3. Agents of social change.
4. Education and social change.
5. Science, technology and social change.

Paper-2

INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE

INTRODUCING INDIAN SOCIETY

Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
1. Indology (GS. Ghurye).
2. Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas).
3. Marxist sociology (A R Desai).
Impact of colonial rule on Indian society :
1. Social background of Indian nationalism.
2. Modernization of Indian tradition.
3. Protests and movements during the colonial period.
4. Social reforms.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
1. The idea of Indian village and village studies.
2. Agrarian social structure – evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.
Caste System:
1. Perspectives on the study of caste systems: GS Ghurye, M N Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
2. Features of caste system.
3. Untouchability – forms and perspectives.
Tribal communities in India
1. Definitional problems.
2. Geographical spread.
3. Colonial policies and tribes.
4. Issues of integration and autonomy.
Social Classes in India:

1. Agrarian class structure.

- - Industrial class structure.
  - Middle classes in India.
Systems of Kinship in India:
1. Lineage and descent in India.
2. Types of kinship systems.
3. Family and marriage in India.
4. Household dimensions of the family.
5. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour
Religion and Society:
1. Religious communities in India.
2. Problems of religious minorities.
3. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour

SOCIAL CHANGES IN INDIA

Visions of Social Change in India:
- Idea of development planning and mixed economy
- Constitution, law and social change.
- Education and social change.
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:
- Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives,poverty alleviation schemes
- Green revolution and social change.
- Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
- Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.

3. Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:

- Evolution of modern industry in India.
- Growth of urban settlements in India.
- Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
- Informal sector, child labour
- Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

4. Politics and Society:

- Nation, democracy and citizenship.
- Political parties, pressure groups , social and political elite
- Regionalism and decentralization of power.
- Secularization

5. Social Movements in Modern India:

- Peasants and farmers movements.
- Women’s movement.
- Backward classes & Dalit movement.
- Environmental movements.
- Ethnicity and Identity movements.

6. Population Dynamics:

- Population size, growth, composition and distribution
- Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
- Population policy and family planning.
- Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.

7. Challenges of Social Transformation:

- Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability
- Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
- Violence against women.
- Caste conflicts.
- Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
- Illiteracy and disparities in education.

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