Premium
The Political Economy of Rural Development in Latin America: An Interpretation
Author(s) -
Janvry Alain
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1238412
Subject(s) - subsistence agriculture , latin americans , underdevelopment , economics , interpretation (philosophy) , poverty , development economics , context (archaeology) , population , politics , rural history , rural poverty , rural economics , economic growth , rural area , economy , agriculture , political science , rural development , geography , sociology , law , programming language , demography , archaeology , computer science
The theory of unequal exchange between center and periphery is extended to provide an interpretation of rural underdevelopment in Latin America. It serves to explain both the causality of agricultural stagnation under dominance of the latifundio and the economic functionality of the subsistence sector where rural poverty is concentrated. The contradictions of the subsistence sector as a purveyor of cheap labor to the commercial sector of the economy imply population growth and ecological destruction that reinforce rural misery. This theory provides a framework to analyze the political economy of rural development programs. Land reform and small farmer rural development projects are discussed in this context.