Village Java Under the Cultivation System, 1830-1870

Book excerpt: "Village Java Under the Cultivation System 1830-1870 is a pioneering attempt to understand and explain the transformations undergone by the peasants of Java under the system of forced crop cultivation imposed upon them by the Dutch colonial government. Based on extensive archival research in Indonesia and Holland, it paints a detailed portrait of Javanese village life in the early years of the nineteenth century and analyses the system of forced cultivations - from rapid expansion to stagnation and then decline. The last half of the book looks in detail at how peasant social and economic life in Java was affected by decades of forced labour. Village institutions, leadership and changing styles of land tenure, new social groups, changes in labour relations, domestic cropping and land use, the development of trade and industry, changes in living standards, population growth and mobility are all examined. In the course of his analysis, the author also comments upon the numerous controversies relating to peasant social change in Java in the recent past." "This book will be of value to all students of Indonesia's history, culture and development, as well as those interested in social and economic development in general. It provides a uniquely documented and expansive analysis of a crucial period of change in the history of modern Java."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved