“The Real Estate State: Landed Capitalism in Amaravati, AP”
Dr. Satish Chennur
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSSC), Kolkata
Date: 14 November 2022 (Monday) Time: 3:30 pm (IST)
Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/azx-rhcn-qmo
Abstract: The contemporary rural and agrarian structures in India have gone through tremendous changes in the last two decades, much different from the 1990s neoliberal period. These changes have occurred around the political economy of land with excessive coercions from the State and from the capitalist class to convert the agricultural fields into real estate, or urbanising the rural. In the economic capitalist transition, I argue that land becomes the locus point when it comes to development, especially in the developing nations like India or in general the global south. At the same time, it is also the State's moral and legal responsibility in providing shelter and food for the poor.
My presentation deploys this friction as an entry point to pursue questions such as how the political economy of land becomes significant in the capitalist transition and the role of the State in transferring the agricultural fertile lands mostly to the non-agricultural based accumulation, what are the manifestations of these changes particularly on work and labour. It also critically analyses the ever changing nature of the Indian State. For this, Amaravati, the capital city for the new state of Andhra Pradesh, was chosen as the subject of study. The then government (2014-19) of Andhra Pradesh attempted to build a world class green-field capital city by acquiring more than 50, 000 acres of land. This decision became the most controversial; in fact several of them opined that it is the ‘mother of all scams’ in India, but when YSRCP party led by Jagan Reddy won the elections in the year 2019, all the developmental activities came to a grinding halt.
Bio: Dr. Satish Chennur is specialized in urban sociology, regional historiography, political sociology, caste and dalit politics. Focus of his doctoral research was on the interaction between caste, region and polity in South India. Publications from his doctoral work try to establish the vital links between caste, the political economy of agrarian growth and the social history of regions. They also have explored the critical aspect of caste, especially the politics of intermediate castes and their interconnectedness with region (both urban and rural) and political power, the formation of regional political parties. His present research explores the political economy of green field cities, spatial and socio-economic inequalities. Currently working on a book tentatively titled ‘Caste Mobilisation Processes and Political Power in South India’. The central argument of the book is to trace the negotiations between Caste, Politics and Region.