Varnam

Oral Histories of Agrarian Change

69th edition, Archives Public Lecture Series

How do we represent those who peopled Indian agrarian history?

These talks explore the place of oral narrative in reconstructing India’s post-Independence agricultural history, especially some of its less known though no less defining moments. As important as watershed events and policy interventions are to the making of agrarian history, the contributions of other actors, among them landless agricultural workers, peasants, political workers and agricultural scientists, must also be given their place. The perceptions of agrarian change as evaluated and voiced by those who made significant contributions to the course of agrarian history makes for a more textured view of social and economic change in rural India.

Through first-hand accounts from the lab and the field we see how individual experience and social context shaped the making of agrarian history in India after independence. These stories don’t just add detail; they shift perspective, showing how knowledge and change emerge through lived realities.

Parvathi Menon, former Resident Editor of The Hindu, and historian of science Sandipan Baksi will share insights from two major oral history projects, moderated by Madhura Swaminathan of the Indian Statistical Institute.

An invitation to listen closely to the stories that have shaped our reality today.

This discussion is part of the 69th edition of the Archives Public Lecture Series, which focuses on explorations in and around the archives at NCBS.