Monograph on rural development in Tamil Nadu, India - examines changes in land ownership, land utilization, agricultural production, agricultural price, wages (agricultural income), consumption patterns, etc., the impact of the scale factor, and interactions between components.

This original conceptualization provides insights into the role of inequality in the processes of change in rural India. It presents in-depth analyses and understanding of the nature and form of inequality, and its causes and consequences. The volume examines interpersonal, intergroup, and intrapersonal inequalities in the country’s rural transformation. Through research based on ethnographic, primary survey and secondary data methods, this multidimensional study discusses key themes such as normative and descriptive inequalities; class, caste and other identities; economic poverty; educational poverty; poverty in health; gendered poverty; inequality and power; the impact of migration; ethical issues and vulnerabilities; and suicidal consequences of inequality. It builds cohesive arguments, based on the development of several new indicators, to examine rural inequality. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political economy, economics, development studies, development economics, sociology, public policy, political science, political sociology, and rural sociology.

In rural areas of industrialized societies, food production as a basis for growth and employment has been declining for many decades. In the global south, on the other hand, food production is still often the most important factor for socio-economic development. Analysing the ongoing changes and dynamics in rural development from a functional perspective through a series of case studies from the global north and south, this volume deepens our understanding of the importance of new functional and multifunctional approaches in policy, practice and theory.