Land, Labour, and Agrarian Change in Nepal's Tarai-Madhesh

Offers a multi-scalar analysis of agrarian change in Nepal's eastern Tarai-Madhesh, exploring the landlord-tenant relations with capitalism.

Fraser Sugden (Author)

9781009555593, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 September 2025

330 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.7 kg

'A bold and brilliant work by Fraser Sugden. Based on the ethnography of modes of production and compelling analysis of the complex and multilinear process of agrarian change in the Nepal Tarai, the book offers a fresh look at pre-capitalist formations in the age of globalisation in one of the world's peripheral economies. This book, for its unconventional approach, is a rare contribution to the study of Nepal's political economy.' Suresh Dhakal, Tribhuvan University

This book offers a historically grounded and multi-scalar analysis of agrarian change in Nepal's far-eastern Tarai. It shows how this region has since the 1700s evolved from a forested frontier home to relatively autonomous Adivasi (indigenous) cultivators, to a feudal economy grounded in landlord-tenant relations, which has persisted alongside a rapidly expanding industrial and commercial sector. The book explores the changing land ownership patterns and distribution of surplus, the flow of labour between agriculture and industry, and more complex interactions with global capitalism. The book thus offers unique insights into both the reproduction and transformations of class, ethnic and labour relations in Nepal during a period of rapid political transformation.

Acknowledgements
List of Tables
List of Figures Maps, Images
1. Revisiting the 'Pre-capitalist'
2. Feudalism, Capitalism and the Mode(s) of Production
3. Morang: An Agrarian and Industrial History
4. Conceptualising the Agrarian Class Structure
5. Ground Rent, the Market and Debt
6. Surplus Appropriation and its Implications for Food Security and Productivity
7. Capitalist Expansion, Cash and Climate
8. Revisiting Agrarian Transition in Morang
9. Capitalism, the Pre-capitalist and the Peasantry.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC]