Rural social structure,Social change and continuity

Unit:3 Rural social structure, Social change and
Continuity
Concept of chapter:The majority of the people live in the villages and rural areas and follow patterns of
occupations and life some what different from those living in urban areas.Their behaviour,way of life, and beliefs
are conditioned and deeply influence their rural development.T hus sociology is the scientific of man’s behaviour
in relation to group with whom he has reciprocal interaction. simply enough this study focues on man living in rural
areas. It studies different aspects of human society, such as demography, education, family, caste, tribe, village and
a number of other segments of a society.

Concept of Rural Sociology
• Rural sociology is the science of the village or village society.
• Rural sociology studies the relations of the people who live in the
villages.
• It is just like a mirror of the rural social life. It provides a detailed
study of knowledge about different aspects of rural life, its
problems, its culture, its religion, its economic and political life.
• The basic aim of the study of rural sociology is to make the village
people self sufficient and also link them with the wider society at
regional and national levels.
• Rural sociology which aims at providing systematic and scientific
approach to rural problems
• Backbone of society, many funds, to make the village people self
sufficient and also link them with the wider society at regional and
national levels.
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Compiled by Roshan pant (MBM-Nepal
Commerce campus)

Nature of Rural sociology
• Scientific: systematic body of knowledge. In
case of rural sociology the rural problems are
systematically and logically studied.
• universally applicable
• Rural sociology is multi-dimensional in
character.
• It emphasises on micro studies.
• It employs comparative method
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Importance of Rural sociology
1. Rural sociology lays great stress on systematization and scientific analysis. Many studies have
been made but many of them now are in monograph or article form. Some of the studies
seriously lack proper analysis and solution.
2. Vast majority of population lives in the villages which has its own problems. Even today, two-third
of the world population lives in rural areas. Rural sociology aims at studying all those problems
and life of rural people.
3. Rural society is the fundamental basis of human civilization and culture. People who are living in
urban areas they are mainly the migrants from the rural areas. So rural area or village is the well-
spring of our culture and civilization. Thus to know about the life of urban community it is
essential to know their original place of living, that is rural community.
4. The basic importance of rural sociology has to find out the laws of development and those
principles only can be discovered by studying rural communities in detail.
5. The importance of rural society cannot be ignored in studying rural problems in Nepal.Nepal is a
country of villages, therefore, rural sociology is comparatively more important here than in any
other country of the world. The importance of true Indian culture can be found only In the
Nepalese villages.
6. Now Nepalase is facing with problems of social, economic and political reconstruction. Unless,
one understands what rural nepal is, one cannot understand the problems of Nepal as a whole
and its ancient tradition, customs, culture and ways of life.
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Scope of Rural sociology
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Scope of rural sociology
• A Study of Rural Institutions:Rural sociology studies the structure, characteristics and functions of
rural social institutions. It studies the institutions like family, marriage, kinship, religion, caste etc. in
the rural context.
• A Study of Rural Social Organization:In rural sociology rural social organisations are unavoidably
studied. It includes the study of rural family pattern, marriage, rural social stratification, educational
system, religion, cultural institutions etc.
• A Study of Rural Reconstruction:Rural reconstruction is an important aspect of life and without
which development is impossible. Rural sociology studies various plans and programmes relating to
community development programmes.
• A Study of Rural – Urban Continuum and Contrast: Both village and city hypothetically are two
contrasting modes of community life. It has to be studied in a scientific manner. By studying the
comparison between these two, it can meet different plans and programmes for the development
of rural community.
• A Study of Planning:Rural sociology is a study of social planning relating to rural society.
Community development projects, Panchayati Raj, Co-operative movements are coming under this
study. Their success and failure can only be measured by the study of rural sociology.
• A Study of Rural Community:Rural sociology is concerned with the characteristics, features, nature
and human ecology of village community. It is also the study of activities of rural people.
• A Study of Rural Social Structure:Rural sociology studies the various components of rural social
structure. For example, village community, caste, class, dominant caste, jajmani system, caste and
politics, backward class etc.
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• A Study of Rural Problems:The subject matter of rural sociology includes
the problems of rural life such as social, economic, political and cultural
problems.
• A Study of Religion and Culture: Culture includes old customs, traditions,
folkways, norms, values, etc. Rural sociology studies the complexity of
rural culture, cultural patterns etc
• A Study of Rural Social Process: Social process indicates the fundamental
ways through which these people can interact with other groups.
• A Study of Rural Social Control: Social control is the control over the
society. It starts from the family level. Rural sociology significantly studies
the infernal means of social control like customs, traditions, folkways,
mores, norms, religion etc.
• A Study of Social Change:Social change is the change in the social
relationships; the changing aspect of any system of the society. Due to the
impact of modern education, means of transport and communication,
modernisation, urbanisation, industrialisation, the rural society is now
undergoing tremendous changes.
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methods or approaches employed in
the study of rural life
1. Structural-functional method
2.Regional approach
3.Systemic comparison
4. Fieldwork
5.Participative observation
6.Social survey
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Structural-functional method:
• This approach views society as a complex, but interconnected system,
where each part works together as a functional whole.This approach looks
at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the
social structures that shape society as a whole
• A metaphor for the structural-functional approach is the human body. You
have arms, legs, a heart, a brain, and so on. Each individual body part has
its own neurons and system for working, but each part has to work
together for a fully-functioning structure, or system.
• addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent
elements; namely norms, customs, traditions, and institutions.
• Hierarchical model of caste system
• What are the different structures, or systems, in society? probably think
of the government, businesses, schools, Reference group , opinion
builders and families. We need all of these systems to work together for a
fully-functioning society.
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Regional approach
• Regional Approach undertakes a large territorial or
geographical unit as its subject of study
• The discussion and analysis includes the questions like,
‘What factors determine the growth of varied types of
villages, what factors operate to combine a cluster of
villagers into a agrarian region, what factors tend to
transform an agrarian region into a cultural, linguistic or
political region, and how do regions evolve into and provide
these problems are of considerable significance in the
study of rural society
• It helps in developing broad laws of rural development. It is
not as time-consuming as the village community approach.
This enables the investigator to find out the life style of the
people very quickly.
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Systemic comparison
- Compare and contrast between the society
with reflection of rural sociology as a whole
- How far one village economy is being similar
and varied with other village
- Village may very between high migration and
low migration
- Village social life may very between dry and
wet (irrigation) village
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Fieldwork
• Field work present fact finding of the rural life,
status, and changing pattern of rural
livelihood and consumption patterns,
occupation, structure, trend of migration and
other social setting.
• Investigated few month to 2 years
phenomenon of rural life
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Participative observation
• the observer participates with the people whom he is
observing.
• This gives him the opportunity to come into direct
contact with the people who are to provide him with
his information and obtain much useful information.
• This provides much detailed information along with the
facility of its execution.
• But this method involves extensive use of time, money
and energy. Yet, in spite of these defects, it assists in a
profound study of rural and primitive groups. This
method finds an uninhibited use in many
anthropological studies
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Social Survey
• Social survey is intended to be the study of the social
aspect of a community’s composition and activities.
• It aims at the collection of quantitative facts.
• It makes a concrete study of society, especially the
social problems inherent in the society.
• It presets program for improvement and development.
• It is conducted with fixed geographical limit;
• it is related to problems of social importance and
assists in formulating constrictive programs.
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Rural urban differences
Bases Rural Urban
Life simple Not simple,complicated
people more or less the same Same social status different castes, creeds, religions and
cultures, thus do not enjoy the same
social status
Occupational
mobility
very little scope for occupational mobility. many occupations, so occupational
mobility
Importance of Family Regarded important May not be, hold of families is not strong
Changes and
adaptability
no fast change and social adaptability. Very fast
culture very deep-rooted. Everyone loved culture and cultural
heritage above everything else.
it is different to find pure culture.
Division of labor and
specialization
there is no division of labour there is
respect to the
womenfolk
lower women enjoys comparatively high social
status.
materialistic less More
occupation agriculture and animal husbandry. engaged in non-agricultural work, i.e.
trade, commerce or service industry. 15
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Basis for Comparison Urban Rural
Meaning
A settlement where the population is
very high and has the features of a
built environment, is known as
urban.
An area located in the outskirts, is
known as rural.
Includes
Cities and towns Villages and hamlet
Life Fast and complicated Simple and relaxed
Environment Greater isolation from nature. Direct contact with nature.
Associated with
Non-agricultural work, i.e. trade,
commerce or provision of services.
Agriculture and livestock.
Population size Densely populated Sparsely populated
Development
Planned settlement exists in urban
areas, that are developed according
to the process of urbanization and
industrialization.
Developed randomly, based on
availability of natural vegetation and
fauna in the area.
Social mobility Highly intensive Less intensive
Division of labor
Always present at the time of job
allotment.
No such division.
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Rural urban continuum
• Continuum means continuity. By rural-urban continuum is meant “continuity from the village to the
city.
• In sociological studies, it was thought that there was a clear contrast between urban and rural
societies.(previous slide)
• Some sociologists have used the concept of rural-urban continuum to stress the idea that there are
no sharp breaking points to be found in the degree or quantity of rural urban differences.
• However, there are also structural similarities between the two with regard to the patterns of caste,
kinship, rules of marriages, observance of religious practices, migrations, educational institutions,
employment opportunities and administration are the other institutional sources of linkages
between villages and cities. Thus, villages and towns cannot be seen simply as dichotomous
entities. They are interlinked and yet distinct from each other
• Both village and city are elements of the same civilization and hence neither rural urban dichotomy,
nor continuum is meaningful.
• Though the communities are normally divided into rural and urban the line of demarcation is not
always clear between these two types of communities. There is no sharp demarcation to tell where
the city ends and country begins.
• Hence rural-urban continuum means two essential things:
(a) There is a disagreement over the traditional dichotomy between rural society and urban society.
(b) The difference between rural and urban community is a matter of degree.
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Figure of continum:
• previously it was believed that
rural to urban passes from these 7
steps.The extreme points represent
remote village and metropolis. It
was believed that Gradual change
and merger from remote rural
towards metropolis brings it closer
to the next higher stage facilitating
greater merger between the two.
• Moreover rural and urban areas
are mutually dependent. Analysis
must focus on the linkage between
the two rather than the dichotomy.
• (a) Rural depending on Urban
• (b) Urban depending on Rural
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Rural Depending on Urban:
• (i) Urban areas as business centres for purchase
of consumables such as kerosene, matchbox,
pump set and fertilizers etc.
• (ii) Urban areas are centres of recreation and
education.
• (iii) Compensation, rehabilitation and
employment opportunities in case of acquisition
of village land for industrialization. Demand for
house increases giving financial boost to the
villages.
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Urban Depending on Rural:
• (i) For vegetables and agricultural products.
• (ii) Industries depend on raw materials like
sugarcane, jute, wheat and cotton etc.
• (iii) For labour, skilled mansions etc.
• (iv) Caste based occupation specific services
like dhobi, sweeper, barber and goldsmith etc.
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The stylized rural-urban continuum
• In figure here the spatial flow includes flows of people, goods, money technology,
knowledge, information, and waste and sectoral includes flows of agricultural
products going to urban and peri-urban areas, and goods from the urban
manufacturing areas going to more rural areas .
• Increasing trade and capital flows, the information revolution, increasingly
decentralized governance structures across the developing world are changing
opportunities for rural-urban linkages as well as, the boosting up of such linkages.
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Aims
• Why have rural and urban areas changed?
• To what extent can we define rural and urban
areas?
• What are our perceptions of rural and urban
areas?
• Where do we get them from?
• It is now unusual to find a clear distinction between rural and
urban areas - now there is a gradual decrease in urban
characteristics with increased distance from urban centre –
known as the urban-rural continuum.
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Why have rural and urban areas changed?
Rural and urban areas have changed due to 4 main
processes :
1. Counter Urbanisation : the movement of people
and businesses away from towns and cities to rural
areas
2. Suburbanisation : the movement of people from
the inner city areas to the suburbs of towns and
cities leading to the growth of the suburbs and the
extension of the urban area
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Why have rural and urban areas changed?
3. Re-Urbanisation : the movement of people
and businesses back to the CBD and Inner
City due to redevelopment and regeneration
4. Intra-urban migration : Any population
movements made within urban areas e.g. as
families develop and their housing needs
change this is reflected in their intra-urban
migration
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A summary:The belief that there is
between the truly rural and the truly
urban are no more clear they have
many ‘shades of grey’; Over time,
villages are transformed into towns
and cities. The rapid process of
urbanization through the
establishment of industries, urban
traits and facilities has decreased the
differences between villages and
cities. The differences between the
two is not visible.development of
transport and road communication
has connected remote villages .New
occupations and modern educational
institutions have attracted the
people of rural areas.This is what the
rural urban continuum is.
.
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Urbanism(Urban sociology)
• Urbanism is the sociological study of life and human interaction in metropolitan areas.
• It studies the role of cities in development of a country
• On the one hand, urbanism indicates the rural-urban movement of populations
(urbanization) or their degree of concentration in urban areas. On the other hand, urbanism
describes the characteristic way of social interaction of inhabitants of towns and cities (urban
areas).
• It is a normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, processes, changes
and problems of an urban area and by doing so provide inputs for planning and policy
making.
• Urbanism constitutes the core interest of disciplines such as urban planning (as concerns the
physical design and management of urban structures) and urban sociology (as concerns the
study of urban life and culture).
• In other words it is the sociological study of cities and their role in the development of
society.
• Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statistical analysis, observation, social
theory, interviews, and other methods to study a range of topics, including migration and
demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations and economic trends.
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Features of urbanism
Urbanism Is a way of life which is characterised
by certain elements such as
• transiency (short-term relations),
• superficiality, (impersonal and formal relations
with limited number of people,)
• anonymity (not knowing names and lacking
Intimacy) and
• individualism (people giving more importance
to one’s vested interests).
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• A sociologically significant definition of the city seeks
to select those elements of urbanism which mark it as
a distinctive mode of human group life such as :
• Transportation
• Communication
• Cities
• Growth
• Mode of life
(Although largely population is the only element which is
considered, these elements are more significant in
defining an area as “Urban”.)
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Social structure of rural society
• every society has certain units. It is these units that form the social
set up or social structure. These units are inter-related and through
their study, it is possible to study the behavior patterns of the
society.
• A social structure includes is made-up of elements of society, such
as institutions, statuses, roles, groups and social classes.
Sociologists study social structure by examining the elements or
parts that comprise it.
• In Rural Society, different villages are the units and they have
geographical, moral and other types of structures. Their behavior
pattern, there believes ideas, faiths etc. are also different from one
another. For the proper study of the Indian Rural Society, the units
that from the social structure have to be studied.
• Some of them are Family,Caste System ,Internal
Organisation,Religion, Economic System, kinship, marriage, etc
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Components of social structure
• The family:Family is the basic unit of social structure. It occupied an
important place in the Rural Society. the family also brings about
socialisation social control and also performs various basic and important
tasks; the family also brings about socialaisation, social control and also
performs various economic activities. It is the agency that controls the
religion activities particularly in the Rural Society. It has the following
characteristics:
a) Patriarchal family structure, b) joint family system, c) extended family
structure.
• Caste-System:The second unit of the social organisation of social structure
of the Rural Society in the Caste System. Through the institution, the
functions status, occupation role and social position are determined
Normally it has the following characteristics:-
1) Limited to the persons born within that caste. 2) Endogamous group, 3)
Determined occupation
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• The internal organisation:Normally every village can have a Panchayat or like or and its head; it is
elected with the consent of almost all the adult members of the village. Such as revenue, law and
order etc, generally there is a village Panchayat, a village Nyay Panchayat, Panchayat of different
castes and certain other social, religious and political group’s voluntary groups.
• That are indented at helping the villagers are maintaining the religious customs and traditions play
a vital role in determining the internal organisation and working of the villagers and village life.
• Religion and religious organisation: Like caste, family internal organisation etc, religion is an
important unit of the village social structure of organisation. In fact religion means worship of the
super natural power. This super natural power means god and other gods and deities, worship of
supernatural power and the ditties form an important part of village life. Villages have there own
gods and deities.
• Economic system:
• Economic system has now come to occupy an important place in every social structure. In fact
economic system determines not only the social structure but various other things. It includes the
means and the system of production system of distribution, sharing of profit etc, according to
Raymond forth; social and economic activities are inter-related have a mutual relationship.
• In village society as we have seen earlier different castes have different occupations and functions.
In other words their economic activities are determined by their social conditions. A particular
social group has performed particular type of economic activities. For example the social group or
the caste that is known as washer man is responsible for washing the clothes; no one can be to that
profession.
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Economic structure of Rural society
• Study of economic structure of rural society gies the true and vivid picture of a
overall economy which governs the society
The economic structures components od rural society are
• Major occupation of population(might be agriculture)
• Labour force composition based on education,income,age gender
• Emplyment trend(traditional,urban directed, migration and foreign emp etc)
• Status of land holding (who holds? And at what proportion? Where used?)
• Labour market issues
• Land reforms issues
• Rural Society under the Impact of Urbanism and change in production and
consumption pattern
• Supplies and marketing(Commercialization of Agriculture)
• Village administration
• Institutional Participation in reconstruction and development
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Village
• A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a
hamlet but smaller than a town, with a population ranging from a few
hundred to a few thousand.
• It is a Home and refuge of growing future citizens in large society, and the
original focus of humanitarian organizations to national development,
• The basic unit of production in the national economy is also the village
• Context of producing food to feed the nation and the people
• Export supplier of manpower to stimulate to production services of
society, and
• Finally, village means Place providing needs of the nation, and the state's
population in times of peace and to time of war and
• Therefore, can be stated that:Villages mean survival bases of existence
and providing economic independence of any state.
• Development in practice means the process of improving the quality of life
in cities and villages. so study of village plays a vital role in rural sociology
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Features of village
• Isolation and Self-Sufficiency:All of their
essential needs were satisfied in the village itself.
• Peace and Simplicity:In the village there is no
noise and little sophistication.
• Conservatism: The inhabitants of the village are
strongly attached to old customs and traditions
• Poverty and Illiteracy:They are generally poor
with a very low income.
• Local Self-government: The villagers manage
their own affairs through the traditional
institution like Panchayat.
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Classification of villages
1.On the basis of structure:
• The Nucleated Village:
• The Linear Village:
• Dispersed Village:
• The Mixed Village:
2. On the basis of residence:
• Migratory Village:
• Semi-permanent Agricultural
Village:
• Permanent Agricultural Village:
3. On the Basis of Organisation:
• Co-operative Villages:
• Semi-Collective Village:
• Collective Villages:
4.On the Basis of Land Ownership:
• Land-Lord Villages:
• Ryotwari Villages
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• The Nucleated Village:In this type of village, homes of farmers and
artisans are clustered together. Their land is located outside the village at
varying distance. Their livestock are often housed along with them or
nearby them.
• The Linear Village:In this type of village, houses are built on parallel rows.
Each house is surrounded by small gardens. The paddy fields are at a
distance from the house. This pattern of settlement unites the social
advantage of residential closeness and economic advantages of living on
one’s land.
• Dispersed Village:The village in which the dwelling places of the village lay
scattered or diffused is called a dispersed village. These villages have no
definite structure or shape. This type of village is found in hilly areas.
• 4. The Mixed Village: It is the mixer of nucleated and dispersed pattern of
settlement. In this type of village settlement, there is a larger compact
settlement of houses which is surrounded by a few small hamlets at a
distance. This type of settlement can be seen both in plain as well as hilly
areas.
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• Migratory Village:Here, people live for few months or for as season. They collect
their rood from natural resources. But when the food supply from that place is
lessened, then they shift to another I place where they can find adequate amount
of food. For example, J we find this type of village among the tribal society i.e.
shifting cultivation.
• Semi-permanent Agricultural Village: In semi- permanent agricultural villages,
people reside for few years at a particular” place and migrate to another place due
to the exhaustion of the productivity of land. The duration of residence is more as
compared to migratory type of villages.
• In this type of village, people keep animals like cow and goat but do not cultivate
the land for agriculture. They burn down the small trees and bushes and sow seed
over the earth which gives them some crop after rainfall. When the people find
that land is not yielding required amount of food grains, they leave the place’ for
another new settlement.
• Permanent Agricultural Village: In permanent agricultural village, people live
permanently for generation to generation. They develop village organisations and
social relations within their own village. Generally, they do not change their living
place and place of cultivation. Here, in this villages, permanent households are
created.
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• Co-operative Villages: In this type of village, land is owned individually and people pull their
resources together for common cultivation and farming. Generally, co-operative houses are
organised to supply them their necessary commodities. Co-operative villages are also seen in India.
• Semi-Collective Village: In such villages, land belong to the collective body. All means of
production and resources are owned collectively. The people work together for production of food
grains and other essential goods. For their consumption, they get their monthly or annual dues
fixed according to the income of the village.
• The income of villagers is not associated with the number of hours worked by members of a
particular family. The families received their quota according to the numerical strength of the
family.
• Collective Villages: In this type of village, the villagers live in a communal settlement where all
property is collectively owned and all the arrangements are done on a collective basis. Members of
the village only render their labour to the common pool and get all the necessaries of life like food,
clothing, housing, education etc.There is common dining hall, common store and Communal Kinder
Garden in the village. The Old and disabled persons are also maintained from the common fund. As
a whole, such type of village gives full security for the whole life of a person, his children and
dependents.
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• Land-Lord Villages: In such villages, land is owned by
individual family or a few number of families known as
land-lords. The landlords possess all the rights over the land
but give the land to the tenants. The land-lords also impose
rent on the land which tenants usually pay.
• Land lords give certain percentage of rent to the king or
government and keep a good percentage for themselves.
Such type of villages existed in India before the abolition of
intermediaries in agricultural sector.
• Ryotwari Villages:In ryotwari villages, farmers are the
owners of the land and they cultivate it. They directly pay
the rent to the government without any intermediary. Such
villages are known as ryotwari villages where land is owned
by Ryots or Cultivators.
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Land reforms and Agrarian class
structure in Nepal
• Landlessness in Nepal, in fact is a deeply entrenched and widespread problem
concentration of land in the hands of a few elite classes has resulted in severe
exploitation
• Land ownership is both a source of power as well as the chief means of rationing
economic opportunity as it determines the distribution of production and income.
• Land reform is one of the most important mechanism to restructure agrarian
relations and to build a more socially just society as well as healthier political
environment.
• Land reform could have significant potential for reducing poverty by transferring
assets to the poor, provide human security and historical injustice.
• Despite, repeated commitment towards land reform in Nepal, land reform in
practice has been a miserable failure as regards to distribution of land among the
landless and the land poor and a small elite class continues to oppress majority of
the poor Nepali population, to this day.
• One of the major reasons for land reform failure in Nepal is the inefficient
implementation of the laws because of lack of political will, the power of landed
interests, and formidable administrative barriers.
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Agrarian Social Structure of Nepal
• Agrarian society refers to the society that depends upon
agriculture as its primary economic activity. Agrarian social
structure may be thought of as the characteristics of
agrarian society.The Agrarian social structure of Nepal are
• Ownership of land:All the members of Nepalese agrarian
society do not own a land, land owning members and the
landless persons, no irrigation facility .
• Distribution of land: extremely unequal. Much of the
arable land is possessed by few.
• Agricultural technology :predominantly traditional
• Transitional phase:the traditional agriculture to the
modern agriculture and from the subsistence farming to
the commercial farming.
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• Labor force: family members, hiring people and adopting labor
exchange known as “parma”. Difficult as migration, abroad for
foreign employment.
• Division of labor: only based on age and sex. based on skill and
knowledge has yet to be developed.
• Social stratification: Nepalese agrarian society is highly stratified.
There are three classes based on land ownership-the landlords, the
peasants and the tenants.
• Influence of socio-cultural norms and values: Nepalese agrarian
society is influenced by socio-cultural norms and values to some
extent.
• Ethnic heterogeneity of Nepalese agrarian population: Nepalese
agrarian structure is characterized by ethnic heterogeneity. The
people engaged in Nepalese agriculture are ethnically
heterogeneous.
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• Ecological diversity: Nepalese agrarian society is characterized by
ecological diversity. Ecological diversity has led to a difference in the
pattern of agriculture in three ecological regions of Nepal-Mountain, Hill
and Terai. For example, maize, wheat and paddy are grown in Hilly regions
of Nepal. Paddy is grown in terrain regions. Barley (jaun) and buck-wheat
(fapar) are grown in Mountains.
• Small amount of agricultural land: There is not extremely large amount of
arable land in Nepalese agrarian society. Only 18% of total land of Nepal is
cultivable.
• Decreasing demographic size of Nepalese agrarian society: The number
of people engaged in agriculture as their primary occupation is decreasing
gradually. In 1991, the people engaged in agriculture as their main
occupation accounted for 81% of total population; in 2001, it decreased
from 81% to 78%. Now, it is estimated to have decreased to 65% from
78%. Thus, the extent of dependence of the people in Nepal upon
agriculture is decreasing gradually as a consequence of economic
globalization.
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Why Land reforms in Nepal?
• Due to the various state-led land grants, unequal socio-economic
relations and growing population density, little "free" land is
available today, and large numbers of Nepalese people are close to
being landless, without access to sufficient productive land to
provide for their own livelihood.
• The characteristics of land owning households in Nepal shows that
a large majority of households in need of agricultural land do not
own land, whereas, those who own do not make use of their land
• The inefficient use of land and labour that comes with a highly
inequitable distribution of productive resources limits the ability of
the agricultural sector to contribute to national development goals.
• successful Land Reform and agrarian reform in Nepal, is a “must”
for equitable development and economic prosperity and thus a
necessity for the economic, political and social transformation of
Nepal as a whole
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Land reform in Nepal
• Nepal has been attempting to reform rural land relations for more than 55 years.
There have been successes, such as the early removal of land authority from local
overlords, and most recently land allocations to some ultra-poor and fee waivers
successfully encouraging women to register land in their own names.
• Until the 1960s, land was held under various forms of tenure, such as raikar, birta
and guthi or under the customary kipat system
• The emergence of the Rana oligarchy than give a rise to granting land and taxation
rights to the members of nobility, Rana families and their accomplices such activity
did not introduce any measures to positively change agrarian relations that could
ensure the rights and livelihoods of ordinary people.
• Land reform began immediately on the fall of the Rana regime in 1951, with a first
attack upon the Jagirdar who were mainly members of the Rana family, and plans
to improve the conditions of their tenants in the Tarai (first moves towards which
had actually begun 50 years earlier). The conversion of all Birta grants into formal
private property was also an early objective, achieved in the 1950s.
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• From 1961 reforms entered more classical agrarian reform,
delivered in land laws between 1962-64 which sought to
(i) do away with the last land tax-collecting intermediaries;
(ii) fully privatise land rights as private property;
(iii) unify and modernise land ownership and taxation in a system of
survey-based registration managed by de-concentrated government
offices in each district;
(iii) improve tenancy conditions;
(iv) achieve more equity in land ownership by imposing ceilings on
farm size and redistributing the surplus to needy farmers;
(v) enforce saving by farmers and create a credit source for them at
the same time; and
(vi) impose measures to improve farming practices.
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• Then a distinct programme of settlement schemes was run in Terai
paralleled the land reform with the objectives of increasing
provision of plots to some landless and land poor. This was mainly
through the necessity to regularise squatter settlements stimulated
by planned forest clearance and settlement schemes, these geared
to wealthier farmers
• Little was achieved from the 1963 reforms. Following restitution of
democracy in 1990s a more exacting land to the tiller reform was
recommended (Badal Commission, 1994/95). This was to be
delivered principally in a programme to abolish tenancy altogether,
by enforcing partition of tenanted lands to registered tenants, given
legal force in 1996/97. Ceilings were further lowered but not
enforced. Sister plans to modernise agriculture and support services
also failed (Agricultural Perspective Plan, 1995). A non-government
driven initiative to provide land to bonded labour finally unfolded
after 2002.
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Results
• Broadly, after 55 years of reformism (1951-2006) main results have been –
a) removal of intermediary and local overlord powers over land relations into the hands of the
central state, with subsequent de-concentration of administrative powers to district offices;
b) reshaping but limited demise in the classical alliance of landlordism and bureaucracy;
c) conversion of feudal forms of land assignment and allocations of Kings/State land into fungible
private property rights;
d) repossession of uncultivated Birta and Jagir land into the hands of the state as public land;
e) nationalisation of other pastoral and forest land held collectively by indigenous communities as
de facto state property (public land);
f) slight limitation on the use of endowment of land for religious purposes( Guthi) as a tax haven
and repository for above-ceiling land holding;
g) formal abolition of already sidelined and largely individualised customary landholding systems;
h) final entrenchment of the well-advanced distinction between those who own and those who
till through new survey and registration which turned poorest households on marginal lands
into permissive squatters of large holdings or public land;
i) some real and some spurious reduction in concentration of land ownership through mainly
advance disposal of above-ceiling property by transfers into names of other family members,
friends or caste-mates;
j) an early successful land-taking from elites through nationalising their forest and wasteland
areas, but reneged on in part through subsequent survey and registration processes favouring
large owners at the cost of the poor
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a. limited state-engineered redistribution including (i) official retention of above-ceiling land
of only 29,124 ha (0.85% of cultivated land), around half of which was actually
redistributed, the remainder still in the custody of owners; and (ii) commitment to
redistribute 180,600 ha of tenanted land to 541,802 registered tenants, but delivery upon
which is uncertain and bogged down by disputes; addition of a welfare provision of 1,602
ha of public land to up to 14,000 former bonded labourers in one part of the country;
b. contribution to real rising agricultural daily worker wages;
c. abolition of compulsory labour for the state or royals;
d. liberation of landlord responsibilities to tenants and workers and de-securing tenant
occupancy and conditions, as result of partial registration of tenants, limited delivery of a
share of tenanted land and failure to enforce legal
e. tenancy conditions against wrongful eviction, labour conditions and share returns;
f. a continuing absence of accessible and affordable credit for landless and land poor
farmers;
g. sustaining indebtedness and polarisation with an equal or greater proportion of landless
households than in 1951;
h. almost total absence of supporting agricultural reforms particularly as reaching small and
marginal farmers, who remain the vast majority; and
i. a dramatically raised level of politicisation around land rights, with hardening of
polarisation of interests along political party lines.
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Land-based struggles in Nepal
• Before 1950
• 1950-1960
– Land struggle of Bhim Dutta Pant
– Land Struggle in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur
– Ji Kaho struggle
– Land struggle in Pyuthan
– Expansion of land struggle in Tarai
– Land right struggle in Dang
• 1960-1990
– Jhoda land right struggle
– Jhapa struggle
– Bhakari Phod struggle in Dhanusha
– Chhintang movement
– Piskor movement, Sindhpalchok, 1983
• Post 1990
– 1993 – Kanara movement in Bardiya:
– 1995 – No grain payment movement in Rasuwa:
– 1996 – Movement led by CSRC and NLRF:
– 1997– Bagdari and Pitmari movements:
– 1997– Formation of The Kamaiya Concern Group:
– 1998– Land capturing at Gijara Faram in Banke.
– 2000– Liberation of Kamaiyas:
– 2000– Encirclement by peasants in Sindhupalchok:
– 2004– Case registration: More than 73,000 cases
were filed (CSRC, 2004).
– 2004– Hunger strike at Rajbiraj: (CSRC, 2004).
– 2004– Case registration: More than 21,000 cases
were filed (CSRC, 2006).
– 2006– Relay hunger strike at Sunsari: (CSRC, 2006).
– 2006– Padlocking the district land revenue offices
(CSRC, 2006).
– 2007– 'Sit-in' programmes: (CSRC, 2007).
– 2007– Badi women's protest
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ISSUES FACING EQUITABLE LAND
OWNERSHIP IN NEPAL TODAY
• The real picture of land ownership is not
known:Data from land survey, registration
records,and from censuses and surveys are
thoroughly inconsistent.
• Faith in the capacity of the State as land
reformer is low: Due to political vested interest
of their own
• The rule of (land) law has been seriously
undermined:through repeated failure to enforce
thelegal land reform provisions enacted
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Challenges for Land Reform in
Nepalese Context
1) Defining land reform (land reform is much more than land re-distribution)
2) Defining land rights (As the state has the responsibility for food security, it
musthave the right to control the distribution and use of land than solely giving to
all)
3) Defining a farmer(wrong thinking is that all Nepalese are farmers ,farmer is that
whose max family members are involved in farming whose max income source
also comes from farming)
4) Debate on the efficiency of small size (land reform involving distribution of small
pieces of land cannot be the only measure of poverty reduction as it reduces profits)
5) Finding a modality of land reform:market-based v/s state-led land reform(The
present debate in Nepal revolves around which modality to follow with regard to
land reform, careful analysis of the pros and cons of these two dominant models is
needed)
6) Determining the land ceiling (There has also been a debate as to what should be
the appropriate land ceiling atPresent between the political parties after the
janaandolan 2)
7) Determining the viable size of land holding(Asthey are selling land more
frequently and given the chance to go for non-farm employment, they have left
their land. 52
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I. Developing non-farm activities and guaranteedemployment v/s access to land (farming
alone cannot support all the rural population in the country, non-farm opportunitiesare
essential to absorb growing population and poor and the marginalized people. people must
go out ofthe agricultural sector into non-farm employment.)
II. Protecting the rights of indigenous people and women(not all indigeneous people are
poor)
III. Developing and improving the capacity of institutionsand human resources for land
reform programmes (Land reform is not successful in the countries where there is no
political commitment.)
IV. Local v/s foreign investment in land (Investment by foreigners in land, forest or
othernatural resources may undermine the local needs of the communities for their survival
it’s a debate)
V. Land reform for food sovereignty:Considering this loss of control in agriculture due to
globalization, the concept of food sovereignty is growing. Therefore, now the focus should
be not only on managing local problemsin agriculture but also the external factors. )
VI. Developing a feeling of security of property (land) :One of the common factors for
makingland reform producing good impact is the provision of security of land rights or the
land as a property. If this security is not provided, or if there is a feeling that, landownership
is not secured, even those who obtain land from land reform programmewill not use the
land properly.
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Solution
• strong political commitment and advocay is important by civil society
• Participationof concerned groups in the discussion and policy-making is
essential.
• Land distribution or access to land alone is not enough. There should also
be overall support for agricultural production and marketing
• There is a need to take external environment into consideration.
Agriculturalproduction has been affected more by external factors,
especially after the WTO. Inthis context, the framework of food
sovereignty needs to be taken into account for land reform
• It is critical to build capacity of the institutions meant to implement land
(agrarian)reform. The established institutions may not be effective
because of lack of skills or due to vested interests in maintaining the status
quo as administrators also come from the landed groups
• Strengthen civil society groups concerned with land rights and improving
theaccess to land and develop networks between people’s organizations
andthese societies.
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Globalization and Nepalese peasantry(small
farmers and small scale farming)
• Globalization has had its influence all over the world. Nepal cannot be an exception.
• As international economies become more integrated because of progressive reduction, and eventual elimination, of the
barriers created by national borders against the flow of goods, capital, information and ideas. With globalization world has
been moving for industrilization and opportunities arising in non-farm sectors, it may be argued that the land is no more the
only basis for livelihood. But for the developing country like Nepal agricutural development is an essence thus policy has
been focused on industrial agriculture.
• Industrial agriculture relies on large-scale food production through extensive mechanization, monoculture, and high levels
of external inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, pes-ticides, and insecticides. Of the 1.5 billion hectares of crop-land in the
world, close to 90 percent are used for annual crops with mostly monocultures of rice, wheat, maize, soy-beans, and cotton.
These agricultural practices are highly dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as copious amounts of
irrigation water (Altieri and Koohafkan 2008). Excessive use of these inputs contributes to the loss of agro-biodiversity, soil
organic matter, and increased greenhouse gases. Due to these negative aspects of modern agriculture, in recent years
growing focus has been placed on small-scale agriculture, which has also been the advo-cacy agenda of the food sovereignty
movement that coordinates peasant organizations of smallholders, farm workers, rural women, and indigenous peoples
(Pimbert 2009).
• A large body of literature reveals that many small-holders and indigenous peasants across the world continue farming, which
supports local livelihoods and promotes sustainable agro-ecosystems. These farmers often downplay the role of modern
industrial agriculture promoted by some developed na-tions and their multinational companies.
• Despite various policy to renew their focus on peasant agriculture, agriculture in Nepal is predominantly characterized by
peasant ways of farming. There are about 4.2 million peasant households, cultivating about 85 percent of the total
agricultural land (CBS 2011)An average landholding size of these households is only about 0.7 ha (ibid); however, the
contribution of smallholders to their own household and local economy is significant.
• Overall, industrial agriculture creates environmental and social problems, as evident in many developed and devel-oping
countries. For sustainable and resilient agriculture, peasant agriculture offer better prospects. Since the agri-cultural policy
of the Nepali government aims to acceler-ate agricultural growth in an industrial and commercial mode, critical lessons from
other countries such as India may lead policy makers and other policy actors reconsider such a policy. 55
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• Therefore, they suggest that other non-farm or non-land- based opportunities are becoming
important and landless people should develop skills and capacities to tap these newly emerging
opportunities. But the reality is that globalization has made land reforms more necessary than any
time in the past if we are to improve the livelihood security of the poor, the socially excluded, the
indigenous peoples and women.
• Researchers had argued that the economic system in Nepal is highly dependent on agriculture and
the farmers are divided in to different strata.Vast majority of the population of Nepal are peasants
producing primarily for their own consumption…The poor almost totally depends of their livelihood
on working for others
• In the context of Nepal, Land provides income, food, status, stability and security. Having land
means having recognition and bargaining power in society, and this also helps guard land-owners
from potential repressions and discriminations.
• On one hand people who have land ownership has sound education, social and political power
and access to opportunities arising in other sectors.
• On the other hand, a large number of poor and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers
do not have access to land. This skewness has distorted the distribution of other opportunities
• This has posed threats and opportunities to Nepalase peasentry
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3 ways globalization is affecting small-
scale farmers strength and weaknesses
• For agriculture, it is now possible to run global supply chains that
supply perishable (often called non-traditional) agricultural exports
across the globe.
• Secondly, globalisation has put significant pressure on countries to
liberalise their economies and to relax regulations on areas such as
capital flows.
• Thirdly, globalisation creates a cultural shift. Small-scale farmers
live a life that is very far from the ideals portrayed in this packaged
“good life,” deepening the pressures on rural communities because
success is often measured by a move to the city, if not abroad, to an
industrialised country
• These three aspects of globalisation interact and reinforce one
another. They have created significant, distinct but not unrelated,
challenges for developing countries.
• The globalization has affected on following grounds
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Threats from globalization to peasants
• Increased vulnerability of poor, marginal farmers, and agricultural labourers:Farm wage labourers,
do not have access to opportunities of globalization within the country, thus they have high
probability of sliding into the poverty as compared to other groups. Therefore, poverty continues to
remain high among the agricultural wage labourers, who roughly constitute one tenth (about 9%)
of all rural households in Nepal
• Possibility of corporate agriculture utilizing the state land:Because of the globalization and policies
supporting it, such as, the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) in the WTO, agriculture is going
unstoppably into the hands of big multinational companies. Developing countries like Nepal that
depend on farming have been importing more food than they export. Moreover, prices of what the
small farmers produce have been fluctuating and declining around the globe.
• Nepal will also have to abide by the AoA, which limits domestic support that a member can provide
to agricultural sector, except for some exceptions like ‘green box subsidies’ and support to low
income resource poor farmers
• Nepal’s subsistence nature of farming and lack of competitiveness is clearly a disadvantage in the
context of the WTO. This is a most crucial factor that will hamper Nepal and her food security
• Shift from agricultural to non-agriculture
• Heavy migration
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• Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) is another contentious issue within the WTO framework.
This grossly violates the farmers’ rights in the developing countries.
Under TRIPS, persons or agencies developing new idea, product or
technology will have the right to use it commercially, while others
should pay for using it. If this is implemented, farmers and users in
the developing countries will have to pay for using the technology
developed in advanced countries, including seeds
• hybrid rice seeds are becoming popular in the Terai. The farmers
know that yield of the paddy from this seed will be high, but it does
not produce seed. This essentially means that in a few years time,
local seeds will be lost and farmers will become dependent on
seeds import from India.
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Opportunities from globalization to
peasants
• Globalization also provides opportunities for increasing access of the poor
to land and other resources. For example, globalization has made it
possible to develop alliances among the like-minded developing countries
facing similar problems
• The present focus on human rights and democratic governance, among
others, has direct and positive impact on the poor people’s access to
resources. With the respect of these rights, the deprived people can
develop ‘collective action’ of various types to increase their rights.
• The sharing of experiences of different countries on the issue of providing
access to land will also be beneficial. Globalization has been facilitating
this sharing process also.
• Moreover, with the influence of WTO, transfer of skill and knowledge is
also enhanced
• Given that there are both advantages and disadvantages of the
globalization process, it is necessary that countries, including Nepal,
focus on getting more advantages and reducing the adverse impact of
globalization
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Different Approaches of Social changes
• Social changes can come from the top level the policy
maker or the people themselves
• Some people combine bottom up and top down
approaches, doing both grassroots organizing and lobbying
elected officials. The approaches of social change are:
1. Evolutionary approaches;
2. Cultural approaches:
3. Structural approaches:
4. Dialectical-historical approach.
5. Conflict Approach
6. Integrated Approach
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• Evolutionary Approaches:In the evolutionary approach, gradual
development is studied from simple to complex form through a long series
of small changes. Each change results in a minor modification of the
system, but the cumulative effect of many changes over a long period of
time is the emergence of new complex form. Within the evolutionary
approach, the four sub-approaches used by different scholars are uni-
linear, universal, cyclical, and multi-linear.
• Cultural Approaches:In the cultural approach, change is studied by
analysing changing cultural elements of society. Within this approach,
change is studied through parochialisation , universalisationand
westernisation processes.
• Structural approach:This approach analyses change in the network of
social relationships and in social structures (like castes, kinship, factory,
administrative structures, etc.) These social relationships and structures
are compared intra-culturally as well as cross-culturally. According to
Yogendra Singh, a structural analysis of change consists of demonstrating
the qualitative nature of new adaptations in the patterned relationships.
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• Dialectical-historical approach: In Marx’s view social development is a
dialectical process: the transition from one stage to another took place
through a revolutionary transformation, which was preceded by increased
deterioration of society and intensified class struggle .Since by its very
nature there is a struggle and confrontation between thesis and anti-
thesis which may be resolved by diverging or breaking away from the
current or existing system.
• Conflict Approach: According to this approach, economic change produces
other changes through the mechanism of conflict between different parts
of the social system. The reasoning behind viewing conflict as the cause of
social change is that if there is consensus in society and if various sectors
are integrated, there is little pressure for change.
• Integrated Approach: Integrates the series of concepts relating to social
change and developed a new approach or paradigm, what he calls an
‘integrated approach’.
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Oppression(cruel/unfair treatment)
and empowerment
• Organizing for social change effort also embody the dialectic
between opression and empowerment
• The dialectic tension implies that the process of social change is
seldom linear or uni-directional, a person may act in a way that is
empowering in one context but simultaneously oppressing in
another
• Alternatively a plan that seems to have the potential to empower
actually backfires and a person becomes further oppressed
• External forces may deny access to power no matter how well a
strategy for Empowerment is devised
• So to understand social change requires us to look at the tension
that pull people back and forth between forces that both empower
and oppress
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Rural social structure,Social change and continuity

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