NEW FARMERS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA AS STRUCTURAL RESPONSE AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY FORMATION - THE CASES OF THE SHETKARI-SANGHATANA AND THE BKU

A closer look at the new farmers' movements in India shows that during the last 20 years there seems to have been an important shift in the character of peasant political activities. Today the scene is dominate d by the so-called 'Farmers' agitation' representing the upper and mid dle strata of the peasantry, standing in sharp contrast to the main st rand of the traditional peasant movements, which represent the lower a nd proletarian strata of the peasantry. The article tries to discern t he main causes of this shift in the character of peasant politics in I ndia, and to analyse the social construction and potential development of these new farmers' movements. To analyse the movements two perspec tives are applied, one emphasising the structural features of the agra rian economy and its recent transformation, and the other looking at s ocial processes of interaction, identity formation and collective acti on. It is found that both perspectives are needed if we are to underst and the new farmers' movements.