Peasants in India's Non-Violent Revolution: Practice and Theory (Sage Series in Modern Indian History, 5) (SAGE Series in Modern Indian History)

In part one of this volume, the political world of the peasants of Punjab is reconstructed, capturing their struggles at a national level, as well as at an individual one. Part Two makes important interventions in the theoretical debates regarding the role of peasants in revolutionary transformation in the modern world. The author argues that the association of revolution with large-scale violence has resulted in the refusal to recognize the non-violent, yet revolutionary political practice of peasants in the Indian National Movement Contents......Page 8 Series Editors’ Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 13 Introduction......Page 17 Peasant Protest: The Historical Context......Page 26 Emergence of Modern Peasant Organizations and Fashioning a Peasant Agenda, 1924–29......Page 47 Marching with the Nation: Peasants and Civil Disobedience, 1930–32......Page 79 Consolidating Peasant Politics: National Organization and Ideological Radicalization, 1933–37......Page 111 Peasant Upsurge: Reaching the High-Water Mark, 1938–39......Page 145 Anti-War, People’s War and Post-War: Communists and Peasants, 1939–47......Page 199 Peasant Protest in a Non-Hegemonic State: The Princely State of Patiala, 1930–53......Page 240 Peasants and Anti-Colonial Nationalism......Page 312 Peasants and Non-Violence: Forms of Protest and Methods of Mobilization......Page 377 Peasants and Outsiders: Social Origins of Leaders and Participants......Page 421 Mapping Peasant Consciousness: Elements of an Alternative Framework......Page 464 In Conclusion: Transforming Peasant Consciousness—Practice versus Theory......Page 501 Bibliography......Page 544 Index......Page 562 About the Author......Page 579 At a time when a majority of scholars engage in studies on class, religion, ethnicity and gender, this study forcefully demonstrates that peasants as a category and their problems continue to excite considerable academic debate. Divided into two parts, the book first reconstructs the political world of the peasants of Punjab and forms the empirical base on which rests the subsequent theoretical and methodological discussion. It captures their struggles at the national level as well as their everyday struggles on purely class or peasant issues. The second part makes important interventions in the theoretical debates regarding the role of peasants in revolutionary transformation in the modern world. The author argues that the automatic association of revolution with large-scale violence has resulted in the refusal to recognize the non-violent yet revolutionary political practice of peasants in the Indian National Movement. The author subjects to critical scrutiny a wide range of theoretical models and argues that the political practice of the Indian peasants cannot be fit into any theoretical straightjacket. Peasant Protest : The Historical Context -- Emergence Of Modern Peasant Organizations And Fashioning A Peasant Agenda 1924-29 -- Marching With The Nation : Peasants And Civil Disobedience 1930-32 -- Consolidating Peasant Politics : National Organization And Ideological Radicalization 1933-37 -- Peasant Upsurge : Reaching The High-water Mark 1938-39 -- Anti-war, People's War And Post-war : Communists And Peasants 1939-47 -- Peasant Protest In A Non-hegemonic State : The Princely State Of Patiala 1930-53 -- Peasants And Anti-colonial Nationalism -- Peasants And Non-violence : Forms Of Protest And Methods Of Mobilization -- Peasants And Outsiders : Social Origins Of Leaders And Participants -- Mapping Peasant Consciousness : Elements Of An Alternative Framework -- In Conclusion : Transforming Peasant Consciousness-practice Versus Theory. Mridula Mukherjee. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [543]-560) And Index.