This book illustrates the enduring relevance and vitality of the comparative political economy of development approach and aptly presents the relation between theory and empirical material in a dynamic and interactive way. It offers a meaningful and powerful explanation of what is happening in the continent of Africa and the sub-continent of South Asia today.

1. Introduction Barbara Harriss-White and Judith Heyer 2. The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: Dinosaur or Phoenix? Lucia Da Corta 3. Strategic Dimensions of Rural Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa Frank Ellis 4. From 'Rural Labour' to 'Classes of Labour': Class Fragmentation, Caste and Class Struggle at the Bottom of the Indian Labour Hierarchy Jens Lerche 5. Poverty: Causes, Responses and Consequences in Rural South Africa Elizabeth Francis 6. Seasonal Food Crises and Social Protection in Africa Stephen Devereux 7. The Political Economy of Contract Farming in Tea in Kenya: The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), 1964-2002 Cosmas Ochieng 8. Networking for Success: Informal Enterprises and Popular Associations in Nigeria Kate Meagher 9. Free and Unfree Labour: The Cape Wine Industry 1938-1988 Gavin Williams 10. The Opium Revolution: Continuity or Change in Rural Afghanistan? Adam Pain 11. The Marginalisation of Dalits in a Modernising Economy Judith Heyer 12. Shifting the Grindstone of Caste? Decreasing Dependency Amongst Dalit Labourers in Tamilnadu Hugo Gorringe 13. Liberalisation and Transformations in India's Informal Economy: Female Breadwinners in Working Class Households in Chennai Karin Kapadia 14. Dalit Entrepreneurs in Middle India Aseem Prakash 15. Stigma and Regions of Accumulation: Mapping Dalit and Adivasi Capital in the 1990s Barbara Harriss-White with Kaushal Vidyarthee