Peasant Poverty and Persistence in the Twenty-First Century

Julio Boltvinik has spent over three decades studying and fighting poverty. He is a professor and researcher at the Centre for Sociological Studies, El Colegio de México, and has been a visiting professor in the UK and Mexico, as well as holding government positions, working for the United Nations Development Programme and being member of the Scientific Committee of CROP. As well as one hundred and fifty articles and book chapters, he has published books including Social Progress Index: A proposal (with A. Sen and M. Desai, 1991), Poverty and Social Stratification in Mexico (1994), Poverty and Income Distribution in Mexico (co-authored with E. Hernández-Laos, 1999), Poverty in Mexico and the World (co-edited with A. Damián, 2004), Broadening Our Look: A new approach to poverty and human flourishing (forthcoming) and To Understand the Current Capitalist Crisis (2010). He also writes the weekly column ‘Moral economy’ in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, for which he received the Citizen National Journalism Award in 2001.Susan A. Mann was professor of sociology and former director of women’s and gender studies at the University of New Orleans in Louisiana. She also served as a former chair of the Race, Class and Gender Section of the American Sociological Association. Her books include Reading Feminist Theory: From modernity to postmodernity (2015), Doing Feminist Theory: From modernity to postmodernity (2012) and Agrarian capitalism in theory and practice (1990).

• Part I: Introducing the BookForeword by Meghnad DesaiIntroduction - Julio Boltvinik and Susan Archer MannPart II: PapersSession I: Theoretical Perspectives on Peasant Poverty and Persistence1. Poverty and Persistence of the Peasantry. Background Paper - Julio Boltvinik2. Rethinking Rustic Issues. Contributions to a Theory of Contemporary Peasantry - Armando Bartra3. From Field to Fork: Labour Power, its Reproduction, and the Persistence of Peasant Poverty - Gordon Welty, Susan Mann, James Dickinson and Emily Blumenfeld4. Baroque Modernity and Peasant Poverty in the Twenty-first Century - Luis ArizmendiSession II: Historical and Empirical Approaches5. Agriculture/industry, Rural/urban, Peasants/workers: Some Reflections on Poverty, Persistence and Change - Henry Bernstein6. Employment and Rural Poverty in Mexico - Araceli Damián and Edith PachecoSession III: Environment, Food Crisis and Peasants7. From the Persistence of the Peasantry in Capitalism to the Environmentalism of Indigenous Peoples and the Sustainability of Life - Enrique Leff8. South American Peasants and Poor Farmers Facing Global Environmental Change: A Development Dilemma - Elma Montaña9. Financialisation of the Food Sector and Peasant's Persistence - Kostas VergopoulosSession IV: Policy, Self-reliance and Peasant Poverty10. The Rise and Fall of the Agrarian Welfare State: Peasants, Globalisation, and the Privatisation of Development - Farshad A. Araghi11. Overcoming Rural Poverty from the Bottom Up - David Barkin and Blanca LemusPart III: Closing the Book12. Dialogues and Debates on Peasant Poverty and Persistence: Around the Background Paper and Beyond - Julio Boltvinik

Outstanding … on key issues and debates about the peasantry … a highly provocative, stimulating and innovative book in agrarian critical political economy.