Merchants of knowledge
Petty retail and differentiation without consolidation among farmers in Maharashtra, India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2285652 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aniket Aga (0000-0003-1074-3441, School for Environment and Sustainability University of Michigan Ann Arbor Ann Arbor MI USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 658-676 |
| Publication date | 2018-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Agrarian Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1471-0358 • E-ISSN: 1471-0366 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/joac.12249 |
| OpenAlex | W2792829678 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 35 |
| References cited | 31 |
This article focuses on the intermediary figure of the village-level petty retailer of chemical inputs, providing an account of the everyday relationships of farmers with transnational and domestic agribusiness capital. Retailers are figures from whom farmers purchase seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals. The article traces the rise of village-level retailers in western Maharashtra, India, since the 1990s, and finds that Maratha (a dominant landholding cultivator caste) households have ventured into retailing. Further, farmers depend on retailers for credit, technical knowledge, and for the sale of their harvest. By analysing the pressures and risks of petty retail, visible in interactions with farmers, the article argues that even as retailing provides avenues for upward mobility to petty agricultural commodity producers, the trade is too volatile for the gains to sustain. Thus, the entry of Marathas into petty retail is akin to an attempt at class differentiation but without consolidation
Agribusiness · Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Business · Caste · Commerce · Commodity · Consolidation (business · Economics · Geography · Market economy · Political science · Retail trade · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Indian Economic and Social Development · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development
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| Unique citing works | 35 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,38 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 34 |