From Production to Reproduction:  Agrarian Change in the Indian Himalayas

Across the globe, small farming is becoming harder and harder to maintain as a livelihood strategy. On the rural margins of India, as across the country, farming families cannot out-compete large industrial producers, especially in the production of staple crops (e.g., rice). Fellows in this project will track economic and environmental change in the eastern Himalayas, with particular attention to the Kalimpong district of the state of West Bengal (where Nepali is the lingua franca). Fellows will collate and organize news media and social media materials related to agrarian change. The materials collected will relate to (1) the regional uptake of central government initiatives to “train” and “skill” rural youth in new (non-farming) forms of employment, usually in India’s cities. Fellows will also track (2) media related to rural development schemes aimed at their parents, namely “homestay tourism” whereby villagers convert their homes and farms into experiences for middle-class Indian tourists escaping the heat of India’s city. Laid over this, fellows will also attend to (3) media regarding climate change and heat, both urban heat effects in the plains and landslide incidence in the hills. Applicants with proficiency in Nepali or Bangla should indicate this in their materials. With Sarah Besky