On the basis of a panel study in rural Tamil Nadu, some analytical and comparative studies across India, and the ARIS-REDS survey, I discuss the changing scenario of rural change, the growth of non-farm activities and income, and State interventions until the first decade of the twenty-first century. The overall conclusion is that there are strong evidences of a slow but stable growth of income with non-farm income now being as important as farm income, and a slow reduction in relative poverty.
Periods of economic crisis for agriculture in developing countries have been marked in history by declining incomes and worsening employment possibilities, resulting in adverse outcomes of loss of land rights against debt and declining nutrition levels for the poorer majority of populations. This paper argues that a similar conjuncture of agrarian crisis has become visible in recent years, as had been seen in the prelude to the inter–War Depression, owing to the income–deflation inherent in current macroeconomic policies driven by the dominant global neo–liberal agenda. The argument is illustrated primarily with reference to the experience of India under economic reforms. The question of land rights and gender equity are strongly affected by the dominant policy regime; hence the paper, while not addressing these questions directly, seeks to contextualize them through its critique of the dominant neo–liberal policy regime.
There have been many “end of affair” comments on the Anglo-American special relationship (AASR) in the post-Cold War era. Notwithstanding this, the AASR has managed to persist without losing its vitality up to the present. This article seeks to explain the persistence of the AASR from the perspective of collective identity. It argues that a strong Anglo-American collective identity has been an indispensable positive contributor to the persistence of the AASR after the end of the Cold War. The strong Anglo-American collective identity facilitates Anglo-American common threat perceptions, solidifies embedded trust between the UK and the USA, and prescribes norms of appropriate behaviour for these two countries.