Land to the Tiller: The Political Economy of Agrarian Reform in South Asia

Land to the Tiller' has long been a rallying cry of radical agrarian movements. The slogan evokes the image of crude red flags in the hands of peasants confronting landlords and police in the classic conflict over distribution of the land and its product. That image is one aspect of the reality in South Asia; but the issue of agrarian reform is simultaneously less dramatic and more profound than its popular image. At stake is the transformation of the basic structure, the political economy, of agrarian society. Marx noted that the 'innermost secrets' of a society are revealed in its production relations; in the relations of men and women to the land are embedded relations of power, security, wealth, opportunity, and standing in rural South Asia.