EVOLUTION OF THE THEORY OF CLASS DIFFERENTIATION: A STUDY OF THE HISTORICAL DEBATES BETWEEN MARXISM AND POPULISM

Abstract

The predominant discourse in the extensive examination of agricultural transition, it’s causes and effects are characterized by the historical debates between Marxism and Populism. Kautsky and Lenin made the primary contributions to this argument. In his important work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia,” Lenin presented the concept of socio-economic differentiation and its dependence on the emergence of capitalism. He contested the Russian populists (Narodnik’s), who asserted that the peasantry constituted a homogeneous unit, unaffected by class differentiation. In the 1960s, A.V. Chayanov revitalized these populist notions through his freshly translated work, which reintroduced the concept of homogeneous peasants in developing countries. He redefined this uniform group of peasants as an alternative mode of production; that is, rather than economic differentiation being influenced by external factors (such as rent, labour, and land markets), this self-sustaining population was governed by internal and distinctly non-economic dynamics, characterized by a process of cyclically determined demographic differentiation. This paper aims to consolidate these historical and debates as it still holds deep relevance in the socio-economic structures or rural communities.