The Indian Farmers’ Protest of 2020–2021 : Agrarian Crisis, Dissent and Identity

The Kisan Andolan or the Indian farmers’ protest of 2020–2021 is one of the longest and biggest (and victorious) social movements in the history of independent India. This book adopts a multidisciplinary approach to contextualise the movement in the long run. It engages with the historical, social and religious roots of the Andolan, examining what makes it so unique and transformative for Indian polity. It explores the (dis)continuities with previous resistance and contestation movements in India and globally, and debates the role so far of regional, religious and class-caste-gender identities. Through interviews, the volume also gives a specific voice and platform to grassroots activists and farmers from the movement. Part of the Social Movements and Transformative Dissent series, the book will appeal to scholars, activists and a wider audience interested in social movements and dissent politics in India and the Global South. It will also be of interest to students of economics, political science, anthropology, sociology, government, agrarian studies, Sikh and Punjab studies, politics, international relations and diaspora studies. Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Acknowledgements Glossary Abbreviations 1. Introduction PART I: The Agrarian Question and the Farmers’ Movement in Neoliberal Times 2. Farming Laws: BJP’s Strategic Vision of Strengthening Agrobusiness Capitalism and Hindu Nationalism 3. India’s Farmers’ Movement and the ‘Agrarian Questions’: Authoritarian Populism versus Agrarian Populism 4. The Kisan Andolan and India’s Rollover Neoliberalism PART II: Agrarian Capitalism in Punjab 5. Sikhi Idiom and the Making of the Punjabi Farmers’ Movement of 2020–2021 6. The Political Economy of the Farmers’ Protest: Emerging Perspectives from the Field 7. Punjab’s Mandis, Agrarian life and the Farmers’ Protest PART III: The Farmers’ Protest and Intersectionality: Caste, Class and Gender 8. The Farmers’ Movement and New Agrarian Politics in Northern India (2020–2021) 9. When Women Farmers Protest Patriarchy and Capitalism 10. Bodily Strategies in the Kisan Andolan PART IV: Identity and Radical Politics in the Kisan Andolan 11. Kisan Andolan Dee Vaar (‘The Ballad of the Farmers’ Movement’): Poetics of Resistance in the Kisan Morcha 12. The Indian Farmers’ Protest, 2020–2021: Historical Antecedents of Contradictory Ideologies and New Alliances 13. ‘It Is Baba Nanak Who Is Running this Protest’: The Role of Sikhi in the Indian Farmers’ Protest PART V: From the Ground: Voices, Testimonies and Interviews 14. The Protest: A Battle of Media Narratives 15. Voices from the Andolan: Interviews with Union Leaders and Activists 16. The Importance of Organising: Interview with Nodeep Kaur 17. The Dalit Perspective: Interview with Lachhman Singh Sewewala 18. Learning from the Legacy of the Farmers’ Movement Index