Ethical Economics of Farmers (Rebellion and Survival in Southeast Asia)

Author: James C. Scott
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: Farmers who regard survival as their goal are highly representative in avoiding economic disasters rather than taking risks to pursue maximization of average income. This fact holds great significance for understanding the issue of exploitation. Based on this principle, it is possible to infer what tenancy and tax systems would have a decisive impact on the lives of farmers. The key question is not the average surplus wealth extracted by the elite class and the government, but at whose expense their stable income is maintained. This book tests this theory by examining the historical development of agricultural societies in southern Myanmar and Vietnam. The commercialization of agriculture and the development of the bureaucratic state gave rise to tenancy and tax systems that gradually undermined the stability of farmers' incomes, leading to fierce resistance. The book provides a detailed analysis of two prominent instances of such resistance—the Shweyanbin Uprising in Myanmar and the Yiwu-Jingsui Soviet in Vietnam.
This book, published in 1976 by James C. Scott, a renowned American scholar and professor at Yale University, is a work on peasant issues that exemplifies the empirical research style of combining theoretical interpretation with case analysis. In the book, the author points out that under the survival ethic of "security," farmers pursue not income maximization but rather a lower risk distribution and higher survival guarantees. Subsequently, the author explores the profound impact of the rise of market capitalism on traditional agricultural societies, starting from the historical trajectories of agricultural societies in Myanmar and Vietnam in Southeast Asia, particularly focusing on peasant rebellions and uprisings. Based on this, the author argues that poverty itself is not the cause of peasant rebellion. Rather, the tenancy and tax systems that emerged from the commercialization of agriculture and the development of the bureaucratic state infringe upon the ethical principles and sense of social justice that underpin peasant survival, forcing them to resort to desperate measures and rise in rebellion.
The Moral Economy of the Peasantry is a truly ground-breaking work that examines peasant survival and rebellion from the perspective of the peasantry, offering a more realistic and pragmatic approach. It holds significant practical value for the study of peasant issues in Asia and other parts of the world.