Agrarian Activism in India: A Study of the Movement Against New Farm Laws (2020)

In September 2020, the Government of India passed three highly controversial agricultural policies which resulted in a huge, sustained demonstration by farmers throughout India. This included the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, the Farmers’ (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act. This paper discusses the characteristics, dynamics and political significance of the farmers’ protests that emerged as a response to these policy changes. Particular emphasis will be placed on mobilization strategies, organizational structures and ideological foundations of the protests led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). Using theories of social movements, hegemonic counter-hegemonic thought as articulated by Gramsci and an agrarian political economy framework will help to understand how peasant communities throughout Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh formed a broad range, cross-caste, cross-class and regional coalition against neoliberal agricultural policy reform in India. The role of digital media, diaspora support, and female participation will be examined as part of this sustained eleven-month protest against the state’s repressive tactics to try to control the protest. This essay will critically evaluate the repeal of the three farm laws in November of 2021 as an important use of democratic pressure. The findings suggest that the movement represents not merely a sectoral protest but a broader assertion of subaltern democratic agency against the corporate capture of agriculture.