https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj The Ecology Of Poverty en-us 2021-03-12 08:35:01 UTC 2026-02-21 20:24:52 UTC hello@padlet.com marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301754477 American sociologist Clifford Manshardt documented India’s ecology of poverty surrounding ignorance during his missionary trips to India in the early 1900s through his journal articles published in 1930. He argued that Indian agriculturalists were incredibly poor mainly due to bad physical environment like the lack of rainfall and the individuals’ wasteful expenditures incurred through lavish weddings and seasonal feasts (Manshardt. 1930). I agree with these claims to some extent as these reasons were present. However, I am stupefied to not find any mention of the impact British rule had on the plight of farmers. ]]> 2021-03-12 08:40:06 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301754477 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301757967 Before and during British rule in India, India was a land of villages. With the arrival of the British and the East India Company, India’s once-robust textile industry was diminished, and many were pushed into agriculture in the aftermath of the great Orissa Famine of 1866. This shift to farming was both due to means of self-survival, as well as incentivisation put forward by the British government themselves. However, this was exacerbated by the region’s seasonal monsoons and the British who felt that no relief was the best relief stating Malthusian principles that excess death were nature’s response to overpopulation (Ambirajan, 1976). Ignorance of any mention of the British rule in Manshardt’s article could be due to the fact that he was an American working in the education sector in India which was highly regulated by the British (Mookerjee, 1944). ]]> 2021-03-12 08:42:02 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301757967 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301763325 We see further income inequalities vividly from the image, taken between 1941 to 1943 when Archibald Wavell was Commander-in-Chief of India. We see Government officials dressed in suits while the victims of poverty, a direct result of rising prices and dwindling grain reserves among farmers who couldn’t feed themselves looking incredibly malnourished (Anderlini, 2020). ]]> 2021-03-12 08:45:00 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301763325 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301768504 With the exclusion of British rule’s actions, Manshardt’s claims of the ignorance of agriculturalists in India, does support my hypothesis that poverty was inevitable due to the ecology of farming in rural India. You could say the British were rather inexperienced with how to deal with India’s problems given how Britain was already an industrialized nation whereas India’s industrial revolution was still in its infancy. ]]> 2021-03-12 08:47:44 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301768504 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301768850 Interestingly, we could view the downfall of Indian farmers in a chronological fashion. Nine-tenths of the people in India were connected with agriculture (P. Jones, 1910). Ecologically, India’s soil was poor, and its weather patterns were highly irregular featuring unexpected heavy rainfall. There was a mighty imbalance in financials as their average income per capita was Rs. 33, whereas expenditure on necessities like staple food, garments and housing was Rs. 44. How do they survive then? The go-to answer was traditional money lenders who charged immensely high interest rates (25 to 300%). Farmers faced with no other viable option, turn to fate and borrow money hoping that they would be blessed with a good crop in the following season at the expense of mortgaging their farming land. But however, given the uncertain climate in India, such blessings usually arrived too late, at a time when they had already lost out their collateral (i.e., Farming land and housing) to the money lenders (Manshardt. 1930). ]]> 2021-03-12 08:47:54 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301768850 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301771340 The analysis does raise a few eyebrows given how he explicitly claims that the main problem of poverty among agriculturalists can be solved only through education targeting only the negation of extravagance which Indians apparently did through lavish ceremonies and feasts. ]]> 2021-03-12 08:49:16 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301771340 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301771728 There could be some bias here because of the following two reasons:
1. Farmers couldn’t even breakeven their income and expenses on necessities in the first place and there were no sources proving the existence of many impoverished people organising lavish feasts and weddings forgetting about their plight.
2. Manshardt was part of the Christian missionary that promoted education, and hence, could be using such strong claims (i.e., lack of education in India accentuating ill behaviours like feasts) in order to expedite the progress of his missionary’s activities in India. Thereby, getting support from the British who themselves didn’t want to do much to help these farmers. ]]> 2021-03-12 08:49:29 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301771728 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301774020 All in all, the hypothesis is true given that the degradation of the ecology, both through the highly fluctuating weather patterns, poor soil conditions, lack of assistance from the government due to an already poor economy, and the existence of worsening elements like high interest charging money lenders, farming was destined for poverty during the British rule in the early 1900s. Fast-forward to today, farmers are still financially unstable with many even turning to suicide due to inability in repaying loans. With the absence of British rule in India, it does raise questions of whether the ecology of poverty among farmers has transitioned into more of a climate crisis issue with even more extreme changing rainfall patterns (Ahmad, 2021). ]]> 2021-03-12 08:50:42 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301774020 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301775135 1. Manshardt, C. (1930). Missionary Approach to the Poverty and Ignorance of India. The Journal of Religion, 10(3), 394-400. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1196121 
2. Jones, J. (1910). The Present Situation in India. The Journal of Race Development, 1(1), 86-109. doi:10.2307/29737849 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/29737849?origin=crossref&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents ]]> 2021-03-12 08:51:16 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301775135 marvinlm2017 https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301782577 1. Mookerjee, S. (1944). Education in British India. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 233, 30-38. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1025819 
2. Ambirajan, S. (1976). Malthusian Population Theory and Indian Famine Policy in the Nineteenth Century. Population Studies, 30(1), 5-14. doi:10.2307/2173660 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2173660?seq=1 
3. Anderlini, J. (2020). Britain’s colonial crimes come back to haunt trade negotiations. https://www.ft.com/content/224109be-6763-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3 
4. Ahmad, O. (2021). Climate crisis is foundation of Indian farmers’ protests. https://chinadialogue.net/en/food/climate-crisis-is-foundation-of-indian-farmers-protests/ ]]> 2021-03-12 08:54:58 UTC https://padlet.com/marvinlm2017/qhczq5yrz77a66nj/wish/1301782577