Tracing the way in which the agrarian myth has emerged and re-emerged over the past century in ideology shared by populism, postmodernism and the political right, the argument in this book is that at the centre of this discourse about the cultural identity of 'otherness'/ 'difference' lies the concept of and innate 'peasant-ness'. In a variety of contextually-specific discursive forms, the 'old' populism of the 1890s and the nationalism and fascism in Europe, America and Asia during the 1920s and 1930s were all informed by the agrarian myth. The postmodern 'new' populism and the 'new' right, both of which emerged after the 1960s and consolidated during the 1990s, are also structured discursively by the agrarian myth, and with it the ideological reaffirmation of peasant essentialism.

European journal of Development Research hard-hitting...the richness of the work, in terms of historical depth, geographical span, and disiciplinary and thematic variety cannot fail to impress. The European Journal of Development Research hard-hitting...the richness of the work, in terms of historical depth, geographical span, and disciplinary and thematic variety cannot fail to impress James Overton,Memorial University of Newfoundland This is probably the most important book on politics and development which I have read in the last ten years The Journal of Development Studies