Socioeconomic Classes in Two Villages in Uttar Pradesh

Niladri Dhar

Review of Agrarian Studies, 2025, vol. 15, issue 2

Abstract: This paper examines the identification and transformation of socio-economic classes in two villages of Uttar Pradesh between 2006 and 2023, with a focus on caste, class, and landholding dynamics. Our findings show that in Harevli in western UP and Mahatwar in eastern UP, class structures were shaped by access to land, tenancy, and machinery ownership. The upper classes – landlords and rich peasants – remained relatively stable, while the lower classes experienced some mobility, driven by changes in tenancy and wage labour participation and migration. Tenancy and rental machinery market were key mechanisms of control and exploitation of the poorer households by those at the top of the class hierarchy. Caste remained a significant determinant, reinforcing the economic dominance of upper classes across both villages.

Keywords: Farm Management; Labor and Human Capital; Community/Rural/Urban Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/395211/files/R ... _in_Two_Villages.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ragrar:395211

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Review of Agrarian Studies from Foundation for Agrarian Studies Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().