Agrarian change and peasant studies: changes, continuities and challenges The Journal of Peasant Studies Volume 36 Issue 1

Agrarian transformations within and across countries have been significantly and dynamically altered during the past few decades compared to previous eras, provoking a variety of reactions from rural poor communities worldwide. The recent convergence of various crises - financial, food, energy and environmental - has put the nexus between “rural development” and “development in general” back onto the center stage of theoretical, policy and political agendas in the world today. Confronting these issues will require (re)engaging with critical theories, taking politics seriously, and utilizing rigorous and appropriate research methodologies. These are the common messages and implications of the various contributions to this collection in the context of a scholarship that is critical in two senses: questioning prescriptions from mainstream perspectives and interrogating popular conventions in radical thinking. This JPS special issue is a collection of articles in “state of the art” format on key perspectives, frameworks and methodologies in agrarian change and peasant studies. The journal can be downloaded from www.informaworld.com