Commercialisation and Economic Analysis

Asok Sen Commercialisation of agriculture is an inevitable and essential feature of the emergence and consolidation of capitalism. Yet, such process is imbricated with dualities and regional variations especially in the colonial countries. Indeed, it is not possible to homogenise the historical impact of commercialisation. Taking as its point of entry, a recent volume of essays on commercialisation of Indian agriculture, this article analyses the complexities of interpreting the processes of commercialisation in colonial structures. This analysis emphasises that commercialisation alters the modalities of allocation and accruals in a society But its terms are not clarified for the toiling people. The author urges the abandonment of any 'stage paradigm' or any idea of a linear progression where a 'retarded colonial capitalism' establishes its dominance after political independence. The review extends to broader questions relating to the use of categories in social science research.