{"product_id":"peasants-makers-of-the-modern-world-9781526654786","title":"Peasants: Makers of the Modern World","description":"\u003cp\u003eTrailblazer economist Maryam Aslany reveals the untold story of ‘peasants’, in a much-anticipated exposé of the exploitation of the agricultural class\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fascinating book, and a must-read' \u003c\/b\u003eTHOMAS PIKETTY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Peasants \u003c\/i\u003eis not just an extraordinary debut, it is that most precious rarity: an out-and-out masterpiece’\u003c\/b\u003e WILLIAM DALRYMPLE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A story\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eso rich and revealing it is reminiscent of Peter Frankopan’s \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Silk Roads\u003c\/b\u003e' \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW ZEALAND HERALD\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFour crops, three continents, two billion lives: this is the hidden world that we all depend upon for survival. And it’s under threat.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor centuries, peasants stood at the heart of human society: feeding empires, leading revolutions, building modern states. Industrial modernity forced them into the shadows, replaced in our imagination by machines and megafarms. But the elimination of the peasantry is a myth. Today, peasants make up roughly a quarter of humanity. They underpin the global economy, stabilise food systems and protect fragile ecosystems. Peasants hold up the modern world, yet their labour and voices have been hidden in plain sight – until now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this landmark book, Maryam Aslany restores the peasantry to the centre of our global story. She embarks on an epic journey across three continents into some of the most remote places on earth – from India’s sugarcane fields to Cambodia’s rice plains, Peru’s cocaine valleys and Ghana’s cocoa belt – travelling deep into the landscapes where global supply chains begin. Here, she uncovers the lives behind some of the world’s most vital commodities. She speaks to farmers, migrant labourers and traffickers. Men driven to extremism or suicide by failing livelihoods, and women forced to bear the burden of agricultural labour. Families on the brink of survival.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs our demand for cheap goods intensifies, our most vital and innovative workforce is being driven towards collapse. The consequences are already starting to show: food insecurity, mass migration, ecological collapse. Far from being a relic of our past, the peasantry is essential to our future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBlending personal stories with on-the-ground reporting and pioneering new research, \u003ci\u003ePeasants \u003c\/i\u003eis a far-reaching yet intimate portrait of the world in four crops – sugarcane, rice, coca and cocoa – and an urgent reminder that the story of the countryside is the story of us all.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Miraculous ... This is a \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003emajor work, bound to ruffle feathers and stir debate' \u003c\/b\u003eDAVID WENGROW\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Groundbreaking ... Opens a window onto a little-known world' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eLITERARY REVIEW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Totally entrancing, utterly fascinating' \u003c\/b\u003eED CONWAY\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781526654786\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.2(H)x15(L)x3(W)469\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 469\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eMaryam Aslany’s work focuses on the crisis of the global countryside.  Over the last fourteen years, she has carried out field research among agricultural societies in some of the most remote landscapes of Asia, Africa and Latin America. She is currently a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a Research Associate at the African Studies Centre at the University of Oxford.   She was previously a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, and a Research Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eContested Capital,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHarves\u003c\/i\u003et, an Audible podcast series.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003ePeasants\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003etransformed the world in the past, and their views on fairness and sustainability will matter more than ever to shape the twenty-first century. \u003cb\u003eA fascinating book, and a must-read\u003c\/b\u003e -- THOMAS PIKETTY, bestselling author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeasants\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e has earned a place in that very short shelf of books which genuinely make you see the world anew. \u003c\/b\u003eMaryam Aslany has thought deeply, read widely, travelled globally and observed minutely to produce a book whose insights turn our preconceptions upside down. In often exquisite prose, illuminated with brilliant shafts of scholarship, she has written a text that is as profound as it is wide-ranging and, potentially, world-changing. Over and again she reminds us of the crucial but usually ignored role that peasants still play in keeping the world in balance, \"holding in check an industrial world which has none of their reverence for nature. Our fragile world is only as intact as it is because of them.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeasants\u003c\/i\u003e is not just an extraordinary debut, it is that most precious rarity: an out-and-out masterpiece\u003c\/b\u003e -- WILLIAM DALRYMPLE, bestselling author of The Golden Road\u003cbr\u003eOn each page of this \u003cb\u003eremarkable\u003c\/b\u003e book, Aslany marshals evidence to counter received wisdom about the inevitable extinction of global peasantry. As we drift into a world of megacities, she shows how cultural and intellectual forces across the political spectrum conspire to render another quarter of contemporary humanity invisible, with catastrophic consequences for our future. Shifting registers, \u003cb\u003efrom deep history to first-hand encounters\u003c\/b\u003e with farmers and landscapes across the world, Aslany builds an argument of astonishing scope and consistency. There is also a \u003cb\u003emiraculous \u003c\/b\u003edeftness of touch to her writing, which makes the argument of \u003ci\u003ePeasants\u003c\/i\u003e not just forceful, but \u003cb\u003eriveting\u003c\/b\u003e to read. This is\u003cb\u003e a major work, bound to ruffle feathers and stir debate\u003c\/b\u003e -- DAVID WENGROW, bestselling author of The Dawn of Everything\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotally entrancing, utterly fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e. I found myself reeling (in a good way) each time I put it down. I hope this book, and the journey Maryam Aslany takes us on, prompts us all to think more deeply about the complex, enduring relationship between those who tend the land and everyone else -- ED CONWAY, bestselling author of Material World\u003cbr\u003eIt is a story \u003cb\u003eso rich and revealing it is reminiscent of Peter Frankopan’s \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Silk Roads\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e... If the first half of the book is a history of peasants in China, Russia and England, in the second half Aslany meets rural workers in Africa, Peru and Asia: \u003cb\u003ea remarkable feat of journalism\u003c\/b\u003e ... Combines erudite scholarship with empathetic reportage – a \u003cb\u003erare and powerful\u003c\/b\u003e combination * New Zealand Herald *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGroundbreaking ... impeccably researched ... \u003c\/b\u003eA bravura performance that\u003cb\u003e opens a window onto a little-known world\u003c\/b\u003e * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrilliant\u003c\/b\u003e ... This book will enrage and horrify some of my fellow members of the House of Lords. That is \u003cb\u003ea measure of its power and importance\u003c\/b\u003e -- Baroness Bennett * The House Magqzine *","brand":"Maryam Aslany","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50628757029081,"sku":"9781526654786","price":36.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781526654786.jpg?v=1791458777","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/peasants-makers-of-the-modern-world-9781526654786","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}