Land and Power

The Marxist Conquest of Rural Bengal

Bibliographic Data

ID3637579
AuthorsArild Engelsen Rund (London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author)
Year1994
Volume28
Issue2
Pages357-380
Publication date1994-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x00012440
OpenAlexW2165448501
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited8

The Indian state of West Bengal is governed and politically dominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) for short) which has been in Government there since 1977 as the largest constituent party to the ruling Left Front. The CPI(M)'s position in West Bengal is unique both in India and in the world in the sense that it is the only Communist party to be popularly elected and reelected to power for such a long period. Today it draws most of its electoral support from the rural areas where the party is supported by peasants of practically all socio-economic sections. It is to an interesting period in the history of Communism in Bengal that this article will turn, namely to the creation of a particular alliance of Marxists and peasants in the restlessness in that state in the late 1960s and the virtual elimination of non-Marxist forces in large areas

Alliance · Archaeology · BENGAL · Communism · Economic history · Geography · Government (linguistics · Leasehold estate · Marxist philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Socioeconomics · Sociology · State (computer science · West bengal · Agricultural Economics and Practices · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · History · Law · Philosophy