Peasant cultures of the twenty-first century

摘要

In the last quarter of a century there has been a fundamental change in the historical situation of post-coloniality. The new conditions under which global flows of capital, commodities, information and people are now regulated have created both new opportunities and new obstacles for post-colonial countries. The old idea of a Third World, sharing a common history of colonial oppression and backwardness, is no longer as persuasive as it was in the 1960s. The phenomenal growth of China and India in recent years has set in motion a process of social change that, in its scale and speed, is unprecedented in human history. I will argue that the forms of capitalist industrial growth in the twenty-first century may, in large agrarian countries like China, India and the countries of South-east Asia, make room for the preservation of peasant production and peasant cultures, but under completely altered conditions. The analysis of these emergent forms of postcolonial capitalism requires new conceptual work.