Abstract
Change in the nature of rural society and economy is not only about disappearance of the old. It is also about rise of new actors, support systems, and policy interventions. This chapter attempts to explain three such major developments in the contemporary rural: increasing dependence on Minimum Support Price as a policy mechanism, farmers’ increasing interaction with financial services, and thirdly emergence of a new aspirational consumerist class with a distinct culture. With the help of interaction with various farmer families this chapter attempts to explain how market has emerged as a strong intermediary between farmers and rural community.
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Notes
- 1.
Personal interview with author, June 2017, Donoda, Yawatmal.
- 2.
P. Sainath’s coverage on issues of rural and agricultural issues in India is available on https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/.
- 3.
Report is available on the link https://agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/NCF3%20%281%29.pdf.
- 4.
Personal interview with author, January 2015, Jhansi.
- 5.
Personal interview with author, June 2017, Donoda, Yawatmal.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Personal interview with author, March 2017, Jodhpur Pakhar, Bathinda.
- 9.
Personal interview with author, December 2016, Siklodhi, Attara, Banda.
- 10.
Personal interview with author, March 2017, Bhopalkhurd, Mansa.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Personal interview with author, December 2016, Attara, Banda.
- 13.
Personal interview with author, June 2017, Donoda.
- 14.
Personal conversation with author, June 2017, Wardha.
- 15.
Personal conversation with author, June 2017, Nagpur.
- 16.
Personal interview with author, March 2017, Bhopalkhurd.
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Suthar, S.K. (2022). New Allies!: Support Prices, Financialization, and Consumerism. In: Dilapidation of the Rural. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3892-4_6
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