The Rice Economies

Technology and Development in Asian Societies
1. Auflage 1994
ISBN: 978-0-520-08620-3
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 271 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 230 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

The contrast in the rate of growth between Western and Eastern societies since 1800 has caused Asian societies to be characterized as backward and resistant to change, though until 1600 or so certain Asian states were technologically far in advance of Europe. The Rice Economies, drawing on original source materials, examines patterns of technological and social evolution specific to East-Asian wet-rice economies in order to clarfiy some general historical trends in economic development.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bray, Francesca

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Entwicklungsstudien
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Entwicklungspolitik, Nord-Süd Beziehungen
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geschichte der VWL

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of figures and tables
Chinese dynasties
Japanese eras
Preface
Acknowledgements
Maps

Introduction  Eurocentric models of historical change  An alternative model  The significance of a model of development for rice economies

1 The rice-plant: diversity and intensification The origins of Asian rice Natural characteristics of rice Selection techniques

2 Paths of technical development Building new fields Raising yields Labour productivity and the mechanisation question

3 Water control Water control and institutions: the debate A technical classification of water control systems Gravity-fed irrigation networks Ponds, tanks and reservoirs Contour canals 'Creek' irrigation Pump irrigation schemes

Patterns of growth and change

4 Rice and the wider economy 'Skill-oriented' and 'mechanical' technologies The specificity of wet-rice agriculture Uniformity and systemic change Monoculture and markets Economic diversification Petty commodity production and rural industrialisation

5 Development Some basic issues Labour and capital The historical experience: the predominance of labour and the 'Japanese model' Choice of technological inputs Capital investment Productivity of labour and capital Expertise and participation

6 Peasant, landlord and state: changes in relations of production Conflict, cooperation and control Historical changes in relations of production  'Feudal' relations and frontier zones  Smallholder economies: expansion and stagnation

Egalitarianism or differentiation: the impact of capitalism

Land and landlessness 'Land to the tiller' Group farming Socialist land reform

Appendix A: The Western model

Appendix B: The historical experience of China

Appendix C: The Japanese experience
Notes
References
Glossary
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Francesca Bray is Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Santa Barbara and author of Agriculture, Volume VI, part 2 in Joseph Needham's Science and Civilization in China (1984).