Keywords
Global Financial- AgriTech
Farmers Movement
India
Punjab
How to Cite
Abstract
Much of the popular analysis of the 2020 farmers protests in India identifies an “authoritarian” BJP government as the primary antagonistic force threatening the livelihoods of farmers in major grain producing states such as Punjab. This paper is motivated by concern that such a “methodologically nationalist” and “presentist” account risks obscuring more than it reveals regarding what is at stake in the contestations over the 2020 farm laws. It addresses these limitations by asking instead how the contestation over the farm laws renews the confrontation over the appropriation of the surplus value of the “agrarian South” that was set in motion by the rise of the neoliberal form of global capital accumulation in the late twentieth century. Locating the contemporary moment within the long history and broader geography of neoliberal capitalist imperialism brings to light the accumulation imperatives of global financial-agribusiness capital as key motive forces underpinning the farm laws. Attention is thus drawn in this paper to how the deepening of the privatization, liberalization, and financialization of agriculture in the Global South remains a key strategy for addressing global capital’s structural crises of over-production and over-accumulation. The paper argues that the intensification of neoliberal agrarian restructuring in India via the 2020 farm laws has opened further space for both a familiar mode of global agribusiness accumulation that aims to capture the surplus value of the real agricultural economy and for an emergent agritech mode of accumulation that is centered more on harvesting data in order to generate profits through financial speculation in the derivative agricultural economy. The paper concludes by emphasizing that the farmers movement is correct in contesting the farm laws, as the deepening of Indian agriculture’s integration into global capitalism threatens to render farmers into a category of permanently surplus labor.References
Ahuja, R, 2014 “Africa Rising” Millennium Post, http://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/print/23461
Anseeuw, W, Roda J-M, Ducastel A, Kamaruddin N, 2017 “Global Strategies of Firms and the Financialization of Agriculture” in Sustainable Development and Tropical Agri-Chains, eds E Beinabe, A Rival, D Loeillet (Springer) pp. 321-337.
Basu, K, 2021 “India’s farm laws are a global problem” Brookings Institute, February 19, 2021 https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/indias-farm-laws-are-a-global-problem/
Bhalla, K, 2020 “Reliance Looks to Conquer Farm-To-Fork Supply Chain Market with JioKrishi” Inc 42 June 29, 2020 https://inc42.com/buzz/reliance-looks-to-conquer-farm-to-fork-supply-chain-market-with-jiokrishi/
Burch, D, Lawrence, G 2009, “Towards a third food regime: behind the transformation” Agriculture and Human Values 26, pp. 267-279.
Clapp, J, 2014, “Financialization, distance, and global food politics” The Journal of Peasant Studies 41(5), pp. 797-814.
Clapp, J, Ruder, S-L, 2020, “Precision Technologies for Agriculture: Digital Farming, Gene-Edited Crops and the Politics of Sustainability” Global Environmental Politics 20(3), pp. 49-69.
Daniyal, S, 2021, “What explains Modi government’s volatile authoritarianism, swinging from paranoia to paralysis?” February 22, 2021 https://scroll.in/article/987548/what-explains-modi-governments-volatile-authoritarianism-swinging-from-paranoia-to-paralysis
Davis, M, 2005, Planet of Slums (London: Verso).
De Angelis, M, 2007, The Beginning of History: Value Struggles and Global Capital (Pluto: London).
Dhar, B, 2018 “Untenable assault on our farm subsidies” The Hindu Business Line December 4, 2018 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/untenable-assault-on-our-farm-subsidies/article25664704.ece
Dutt, I A, 2020, “Farm reforms may help Cargill’s expansion plans in India” Rediff October 10, 2020 https://www.rediff.com/business/report/farm-law-farm-reforms-may-help-cargills-india-dream/20201010.htm
Dyer-Witheford, N, Kjosen, A M, and Steinhoff, J Introduction Inhuman Power: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Capitalism (Pluto, 2019).
Chatterjee, P, 2008, “Democracy and Economic Transformation in India” Economic and Political Weekly 43 (16) 53-62
Ghosh, J, 2005, “Trade Liberalization in Agriculture: An Examination of Impact and Policy References with Special Reference to India” In Human Development Report 2005. New York: UNDP, 2005.
Ghosh, S, Wagner, K, 2020, “Facebook is on a roll with WhatsApp payments and deal with Mukesh Ambani” The Print November 6, 2020 https://theprint.in/economy/facebook-is-on-a-roll-in-india-with-whatsapp-payments-and-deal-with-mukesh-ambani/538397/
Gill, N, 2020, “Farm Bills: A False Experiment in the Name of Agricultural Freedom” October 16, 2020 https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/opinion-farm-bills-a-false-experiment-in-the-name-of-agricultural-freedom/362281
Gowan, P, 1999, The Global Gamble: Washington’s Faustian Bid for World Dominance (London: Verso).
Goyal, M, 2018, “International food giant Cargill is changing the way it does business” The Economic Times September 9, 2018 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/international-food-giant-is-changing-the-way-it-does-business/articleshow/65735650.cms?from=mdr
Harvey, D, 2005, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Henry, M, Prince, R, 2018, “Agriculturalizing Finance? Data assemblages and derivatives markets in small-town New Zealand” Environment and Planning ‘A’: Economy and Space 50(5), pp. 989-1007.
Kannan, K P, Raveendran, G, 2009, “Growth sans Employment: A Quarter Century of Jobless Growth in India’s Organized Manufacturing” Economic and Political Weekly 44 (10), pp. 80-91.
Kaur, S, 2021, “India’s farmers are protesting authoritarianism disguised as capitalism. Sound familiar?” NBC Think February 16, 2021 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/india-s-farmers-are-protesting-authoritarianism-disguised-capitalism-sound-familiar-ncna1258028
La Via Campesina, 2021, “India’s Farmers’ Protest: Peasants around the world send messages of solidarity and support” January 19, 2021, https://viacampesina.org/en/indian-farmers-protests-farmers-around-the-world-send-messages-of-solidarity-and-support/
Lerche, J, 2013, “The Agrarian Question in Neoliberal India: Agrarian Transition Bypassed?” Journal of Agrarian Change 13 (3) 382-404.
Li, T, 2009, “Exit from agriculture: a step forward or a step backward for the rural poor” Journal of Peasant Studies 36 (3) 629-636
Mashal, M, Yasir, S, 2021, “Modi’s Response to Farmer Protests in India Stirs Fears of a Pattern” The New York Times May 2, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/world/asia/india-modi-farmer-protest-censorship.html
McMichael, P, 1997, “Rethinking globalization: the agrarian question revisited” Review of International Political Economy 4 (4) 630-662.
McMichael, P, 2005, “Global Development and the Corporate Food Regime” In New Directions in the Sociology of Global Development, eds F.H. Buttel, P. McMichael (Bingley: Emerald), pp. 265-299.
Murphy, S, Burch, D, Clapp, J, 2012, Cereal Secrets: The world’s largest grain traders and global agriculture. Oxfam Research Reports.
Moyo S, Patnaik U 2011, The Agrarian Question in the Neoliberal Era: Primitive Accumulation and the Peasantry (Fahamu Books: Cape Town).
Moyo S, Yeros P 2005 (editors), Reclaiming the Land: The Resurgence of Rural Movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (London, Zed Books)
Narayanan, S, 2020, “The Three Farm Bills: Is this the Market Reform Indian Agriculture Needs? The India Forum October 2, 2020 https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/three-farm-bills
Nunn, S, 2018 “U.S. Farmers Are Producing Too Much Food. Here’s Why They Can’t Stop” The Wall Street Journal February 5, 2018 https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-farmers-are-producing-too-much-food-heres-why-they-cant-stop-1517842730
PAN (Pesticide Action Network), 2021, “Global Solidarity for India’s Farmers Grows” January 28, 2021 https://www.panna.org/blog/global-solidarity-indias-farmers-grows
Patnaik, P, 2020, “Neoliberalism and Fascism” Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy 9(1), pp. 33-49.
Patnaik, U, 2002, “On the Inverse Relation between Primary Exports and Food Absorption in Developing Countries under Liberalized Trade Regimes” In Work and Well-Being in the Age of Finance, eds J Ghosh and CP Chandreshakar (New Delhi: Tulika Books), pp. 256-286.
Patnaik, U, 2003, “Global Capitalism, Deflation and Agrarian Crisis in Developing Countries” Journal of Agrarian Change 3(1-2) 33-62.
Patnaik, U, 2007, “Neoliberalism and Rural Poverty in India” Economic and Political Weekly 42(30), pp. 3132-3150.
Reddy, D N, Sharma, S, “Crisis in Agriculture and Rural Distress in Post-Reform India” in India Development Report 2008, edited by R Radhakrishna (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 40-53.
Reddy D N, Sharma S, 2010, Agrarian Crisis in India (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
RUPE (Research Unit for Political Economy), 2021, “Modi’s Farm Produce Act Was Authored Thirty Years Ago, in Washington D.C.” Counter Currents April 2, 2021 https://countercurrents.org/2021/02/modis-farm-produce-act-was-authored-thirty-years-ago-in-washington-d-c/
Sally M, Watts H, 2016, “2016 will be good for consumers as commodity downturn will continue: David Maclennan, Chairman, Cargill” The Economic Times, January 27, 2016 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/2016-will-be-good-for-consumers-as-commodity-downturn-will-continue-david-maclennan-chairman-cargill/articleshow/50735672.cms?from=mdr
Salerno, T, 2017, “Cargill’s corporate growth in times of crisis: how agro-commodity traders are increasing profits in the midst of volatility” Agriculture and Human Values 34, pp. 211-222.
Sanyal, K, 2007, Rethinking Capitalist Development: Primitive Accumulation, Governmentality and Post-colonial Capitalism (Routledge, London/New York/New Delhi).
Sharma, D, 2018, “Modi’s MSP hike to face hurdle in WTO” The Tribune August 22, 2018 https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/comment/modi-s-msp-hike-to-face-hurdle-in-wto-640545
Sehgal, M, 2020, “Know about kisan unions leading the biggest farmers’ agitation in Delhi in 30 years” India Today December 3, 2020. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/know-about-the-kisan-unions-leading-the-biggest-farmers-agitation-in-delhi-in-30-years-1746468-2020-12-03
Sinha, Shreya, 2020, “The Agrarian Crisis in Punjab and the Making of the Anti-Farm Law Protests” The India Forum December 4, 2020 https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/agrarian-crisis-punjab-and-making-anti-farm-law-protests
Sinha, Subhir, 2021, “ ‘Strong leader’, authoritarian populism and Indian developmentalism: The Modi moment in historical context” Geoforum 124 (August), pp. 320-33.
Vyas B.M., Kaushik, M, 2020, “How India Was Stripped of Its Atmanirbharta in the Edible Oil Industry” The Wire November 4, 2020 https://thewire.in/political-economy/india-edible-oil-self-sufficiency
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2024 Bikrum Gill