Capital owners
Down To Earth|September 01, 2022
PROPERTIES OF RENT IS ABOUT THE TENSION BETWEEN RAPIDLY CHANGING ECONOMIC REALITIES AND THE PARALLEL ATTEMPTS BY COMMUNITIES TO HOLD ON TO KINSHIP ASSOCIATIONS, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF RESPECT AND HONOUR 
AMIT KUMAR
Capital owners

HAVE YOU ever wondered how rental markets, operating through bypassing municipal laws, maintain their durability in Indian cities? What shapes the landlord-renter relationship? How caste hierarchies continue to manifest themselves despite all the rhetoric of globalisation? Sushmita Pati's Properties of Rent sheds light on these via a detailed ethnographic investigation of the politics of rent in two urban villages of South Delhi Munirka and Shahpur Jat.

The book is about the tension between rapidly changing economic realities and the parallel attempts by communities to hold on to kinship associations, as well as traditional notions of respect and honour.

This tension has distinctly shaped the forms of accumulation that have evolved in spaces like urban villages. Known for farming in the northwestern region of India, the Jat community is dominant in both these villages.

While presenting to her reader the post-liberalisation rental market controlled by Jats, Pati shows how global capital makes space for these messy, grey zones (in terms of law). The author has analysed how, in grey zones, rental economy operates in the shadows of global capital in ways that predate neo-liberalism. The author's central argument is that rent is not merely an economic and political category, but a lived one. Rent is about micro-processes of controlling resources, emotive expressions of belongingness, community, honour and channels to extract economic value.

Esta historia es de la edición September 01, 2022 de Down To Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September 01, 2022 de Down To Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE DOWN TO EARTHVer todo
A SPRIG TO CARE FOR
Down To Earth

A SPRIG TO CARE FOR

Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
DIGGING A DISASTER
Down To Earth

DIGGING A DISASTER

Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
REVIEW THE TREATMENT
Down To Earth

REVIEW THE TREATMENT

Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE
Down To Earth

MAKE STEEL SUSTAINABLE

As India works to double its GDP by 2030, its steel industry must balance growth with sustainability. By embracing policies like the Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 and adopting green technologies, India is paving the way for a more sustainable future in steel production

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?
Down To Earth

Can ANRF pull off the impossible for India?

Anusandhan National Research Foundation is expected to reorient India's innovation goals but funding issues, old mindsets remain a drag

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
TROUBLED WOODS
Down To Earth

TROUBLED WOODS

Forests are a great bulwark against climate change. But this is fast changing. AKSHIT SANGOMLA travels through some of the pristine patches of the Western Ghats to explore how natural disturbances triggered by global warming now threaten the forest health

time-read
10+ minutos  |
November 01, 2024
BLINDING GLOW
Down To Earth

BLINDING GLOW

The science is clear: increased illumination has damaging consequences for the health of humans, animals and plants. It’s time governments introduced policies to protect the natural darkness and improved the quality of outdoor lighting.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
November 01, 2024
GROUND REALITY
Down To Earth

GROUND REALITY

What happens when the soil loses the ability to grow healthy, high-yield crops on its own?

time-read
6 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC
Down To Earth

GM POLICY MUST BE FARMER CENTRIC

On July 23, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union government to develop a national policy on genetically modified (GM) crops for research, cultivation, trade and commerce through public consultation.

time-read
6 minutos  |
November 01, 2024
Vinchurni's Gandhi
Down To Earth

Vinchurni's Gandhi

A 96-year-old farmer transforms barren land into a thriving forest in drought-prone region of Satara

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 01, 2024