Fiji is a country whose recent political instability can be directly traced to its distinctive colonial and post-colonial experience. For one particular region of Fiji the authors examine the environmental, social and economic aspects of this experience, at scales ranging from national and regional to island, village and household. Discussions in Third World geography, regional economics and development planning have been full of rhetoric about 'underdevelopment', 'centre-periphery relations' and 'dependency', but seldom are the actual processes which give rise to these phenomena examined in detail. In this book the authors explore in depth the interrelations between the island landscape, the cultural geography of the islanders and the intrusive values and opportunities of the market economy. Some important lessons are to be learnt from the gap between what might be predicted from abstract theories of development and what is actually happening in the real world of politicians, planners
Peasant societies in the Third World have undergone changes that are often regarded as sweeping and unparalleled; rapid population growth, progressive integration into the market economy and a Green Revolution in agricultural technology. This book is a critical examination of the truth behind these stereotypes. Twenty-one specialists in the field of development studies look at the reality of agrarian change, either through historical analysis, or through in-depth village field-work, or from their experience as development planners. The first four chapters provide the historical context of agrarian change in India, Latin America and pre-industrial Europe. These are followed by eight detailed case studies of the impact of the green Revolution at village level in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The book finishes with six analysis of the effectiveness of government policies designed to intervene in the development process in South Asia and in East Africa. The contributors to this book sh
