State in Action, Political Settlement, and the Agrarian Flux

Abstract

This book raised several questions. The task was to investigate state–class relations as an operating political settlement and examine the extent of state's autonomy from these classes. The way to do that was by scrutinising particular policies and their effect on classes. The book's focus has been on four fractions of rich farmers – big farmer, landlords, gentleman farmers, and capitalist farmers – and their sources of accumulation and political bargaining. The study adopted a political economy approach to understand the relations between class and state. The research drew on fieldwork in three Indian states – Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Karnataka – bringing out the richness of a comparative study. The reason for choosing agrarian and land policy was their utmost relevance for the classes under scrutiny. The aim was both to understand the differentiated effects of class on state apparatus and, therefore, on agricultural and land policy formulation, and the effects of these policies on the agrarian classes, that is, the class(es) that profited as a result of the policies. These are referred to as ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ linkages to policy, respectively. Agriculture is a state subject as per the Indian Constitution and, therefore, the unit of analysis in the study is the state. A three-state comparison has been drawn here, and the states were chosen on the basis of one overarching similarity and a crucial difference. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Karnataka have largely been under the BJP's rule since 2000 and have had fewer years under the Congress. While there has been an ideological continuity between their state governments and politics, their economies differ substantially. While Chhattisgarh is primarily dependent on agriculture, the economies of Gujarat and Karnataka are driven by manufacturing and services sector, respectively. Theoretically, the book builds on the work of Poulantzas, Jessop, Bardhan, Mitra, and Khan. It rests on the premise that class is as much a political category as it is an economic category. Chapter 2 provided theoretical insights from these five key thinkers. Given this understanding of class, what is the influence of class interest on state functioning in India? A class which cannot exert political power is neither a class for itself nor a class as Poulantzas defined.