weapons of the weak :: essays research papers

In James Scotts novel Weapons of the Weak Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance he plainly describes what can only be viewed as the worsening of the lives of the village poor in Sedaka, Malaysia. He attributes the maturation in economic inequality to Malaysias green revolution. Consequently, Scott analyzes the impact of these changes on the poor, sighting some(prenominal) causes. The green revolution began in the 1970s in Malaysia. It was brought about by an advance in technology, a newborn form of high yielding seeds. These new seeds led to the ability to double crop, or have more than one crop yield per season. Also, many of the large farmers opted to bring in combine harvesters to increase the speed at which they could harvest, making it easier for them to double crop. These new technologies may seem economically beneficial to all if viewed by the untrained observer. However, those who benefited were few. These new developments only benefited the wealthiest in society, conseque ntly leaving the poor even poorer for many reasons.More than anything the combine harvesters led to the increased troubles of Sedakas poor. Combine harvesting has meant, then, a loss of well half the wages previously received for paddy cipher by the poorer strata of Mudas peasantry (76). Combine harvesters were valued by many large farmers as excellent new technology. It allowed for them to eliminate the need of a labor force for cutting and threshing. By the irrigated season of 1979 they (combine harvesters) were harvesting fully 60 percent of Sedakas bar land. A year later they were harvesting more than 80 percent (115). Transplanting was the only work left for patty workers in Sedaka. Thus a problem presented itself for the one-quarter of Sedakas population who subsisted solely from wage labor. Combine harvesters also allowed for large farmers to take up the practice of broadcasting, which took work away from those who helped with the pre-season planting. The lack of work le d to a decrease in the need for laborers. Since there was less demand for laborers, the price of wages went down. This greatly affected those who did not have profuse land to provide year round subsistence for their families. This group of poor who farmed less than 3 relong, in other words those considered below the poverty level, had to struggle to survive. about peasants had to move temporarily or permanently to larger cities to find work to provide for their families.