Author Description

Most migration studies focus on the growing phenomenon of rural-urban migration. This unusual volume explores an equally significant, but less noticed, phenomenon, namely that the existence of a large and increasing urban population has not yet prevented the growth of the rural population in India. The reasons why people stay where they are have become as important as the factors that encourage them to migrate. The use of anthropological methods in conjunction with survey research helps highlight economic and sociocultural factors in all their diversity, as also the range of strategies used by villagers to adapt to their circumstances. Peasant Moorings provides valuable insights into the dynamics and impact of population mobility. It also underlines the potentially tragic consequences if IndiaÆs rural population were to become less attached to their roots in the future. Peasant Moorings will be of considerable interest to policymakers and planners, geographers, economists, and anthropologists as well as those engaged in the fields of urban studies, rural development, and migration studies.