Indian Villages

This book presents a unique testimony on the evolution of the Indian peasant's world over more than sixty years. Its originality lies in part in the unique trajectory of its author, Gilbert Étienne, an exceptional man, all at once scientific traveller, thinker of the North/South relationships and economist concerned by sociology and history inputs. In unfolding the story of his passionate relationship with India, the author offers a very personal look which takes into account not only crop diversification and production techniques, but also local anthropological structures and the conditions of the various castes, including the lowest ones. With its approximately 100 pages, the book is sometimes reminiscent of a collection of vignettes and impressions gathered while travelling, such as can be found in field notes. Here lies the strength of this unusual work, especially as the "things-seen" dimension is completed by penetrating reflections on the transformations of an agrarian society discovering modern consumer goods, on a comparison between France in 1946 and India today, and on the causes and consequences of contempt for agriculture in a country whose elites swear by cities, as Christophe Jaffrelot said. This book is the latest publication of Professor Gilbert Etienne, written before his death in May 2014.This book presents a unique testimony on the evolution of the Indian peasant world over more than sixty years. Its originality lies in part in the unique trajectory of its author, Gilbert Étienne, an exceptional man, all at once scientific traveller, thinker of the North/South relationships and economist concerned by sociology and history inputs. In unfolding the story of his passionate relationship with India, the author offers a very personal look which takes into account not only crop diversification and production techniques, but also local anthropological structures and the conditions of the various castes, including the lowest ones. With its approximately 100 pages, the book is sometimes reminiscent of a collection of vignettes and impressions gathered while travelling, such as can be found in field notes. Here lies the strength of this unusual work, especially as the "things-seen" dimension is completed by penetrating reflections on the transformations of an agrarian society discovering modern consumer goods, on a comparison between France in 1946 and India today, and on the causes and consequences of contempt for agriculture in a country whose elites swear by cities, as Christophe Jaffrelot said. This book is the latest publication of Professor Gilbert Etienne, written before his death in May 2014. Ce livre présente un témoignage unique de l’évolution du monde paysan en Inde depuis plus de soixante ans. Son originalité tient en partie à la trajectoire unique de son auteur, Gilbert Étienne, homme d’exception, voyageur scientifique, penseur des relations Nord/Sud et économiste soucieux de la sociologie et de l’histoire. A travers l’histoire de sa relation passionnée avec l’Inde, l’auteur livre ici un regard personnel en faisant une place non seulement à la diversification des cultures et aux techniques de production, mais aussi aux structures anthropologiques locales et à la condition des différentes castes, y compris les plus basses. La centaine de pages de cet ouvrage rappelle par certains moments une collection de vignettes et d’impressions collectées au gré des voyages, comme en délivrent parfois les notes de terrain. C’est la force de ce livre atypique, d’autant qu’à la dimension « choses vues » s’ajoutent des réflexions pénétrantes sur les transformations d’une société agraire découvrant les biens de consommation modernes, sur la comparaison entre la France de 1946 et l’Inde d’aujourd’hui, sur les causes et conséquences du mépris de l’agriculture dans un pays dont les élites ne jurent plus que par les villes, comme le souligne Christophe Jaffrelot. Ce livre constitue la dernière publication du professeur Gilbert Etienne, rédigée avant son décès en mai 2014