Description: Rural Indian Social Relations is a case study of economic behavior in two Indian villages. It empirically compares Marxian theories of semi-feudalism and of compulsive involvement in markets with standard economic theory. Grain markets and formal and informal credit networks in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh are examined from these perspectives. Elements of coercion and manipulation by local moneylenders in crop sales by villagers in the late 1980s are contrasted with the assumption that all crop sales are voluntarily. Other important issues, such as the subsidized rice schemes of the Andhra state government in the mid-1980s, credit schemes of the central government and broader trends in the development of capitalism in South India, are also examined. This book will be of interest to students and academics concerned with development theory and economics. Its policy-centred conclusions will be of use to government and non-government agencies involved with rural development.

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