ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the Maoist movement in South Asia, like the peasant revolts already discussed in this book, is a response to contradictions generated by the existing (in this case feudal) modes of production – which have resulted in an inability of the peasantry to meet its minimum subsistence needs at an acceptable level. This includes in particular, the contradictions associated with Transition Type 6 – which entail a persistence of feudalism alongside a distorted semi-colonial capitalist sector. Exploitation by landed elite through rent and usury has pushed peasant subsistence down to the physiological minimum. A distorted and socially disarticulated capitalist sector leaves the rural peasantry with few exit options from agriculture. Notably the land-poor tenant class, rather than the middle peasantry, have provided a significant support base for the movement.
