Marcus Taylor (Queen’s University, Canada)
Climate Change and the ‘New Green Revolution’ in India
Tuesday, 26 February, 5-7PM
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
Rural India is repeatedly argued to be in the midst of a social crisis as manifested in indicators of household indebtedness, farmer suicides, poor nutrition and food insecurity. Such issues are amplified in the context of stark environmental challenges, including groundwater depletion, land degradation and climate change-induced droughts and floods. While mass protests have led the national government to promise a doubling of farmer incomes by 2023, the primary means to address this goal has been to reaffirm technology-based solutions. These are aimed to promote a ‘New Green Revolution’ that can raise yields and increase incomes while building ‘climate resilience’. Based on fieldwork conducted on three new agricultural technologies across three distinct regions of south India, this talk discusses both the possibilities and limits to such a strategy. It highlights why technology-centred responses to rural distress, while undoubtedly benefiting some social classes, frequently reinforce the very social polarisation that they are meant to resolve.
Marcus Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Development Studies and School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. He researches and teaches on the political ecology of development, with a focus on agriculture, labour and livelihoods. His recent books include The Political Ecology of Climate Change Adaptation (Routledge, 2015) and Global Labour Studies (with Sébastien Rioux, Polity Press, 2018). He is currently completing a manuscript on Climate-smart Agriculture: A Critical Introduction (Routledge).
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2028438697448991/
All welcome, no need to book but please do arrive early to be sure of a seat. Details of all events in the seminar series are provided below. The venue is wheelchair accessible. We look forward to seeing you there.
SOAS DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES & UCL, BLOOMSBURY AND EAST LONDON DOCTORAL TRAINING PARTNERSHIP
Seminar Series, Term 2, 2018-19
Tuesdays, 5-7PM
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
All welcome, no need to book
* 26 February *
Dr Marcus Taylor (Queen’s University, Canada)
Climate Change and the ‘New Green Revolution’ in India
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
* 5 March *
Professor Sylvia Walby (City, University of London)
Towards Zero Violence: Putting Gender into a Theory of Violence and Society
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
* 12 March *
Dr Mwangi wa Gĩthĩnji (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA)
Agrarian Transition and Development in an Age of Globalised Inequality: Some Questions from Africa
Room: Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT), SOAS Main Building
