Dr Fraser Sugden, from the University of Birmingham has published two major new books examining the dynamics of agricultural and social transformation in Nepal.
Agrarian change in Nepal
Dr Fraser Sugden, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, has published two major new books examining the dynamics of agricultural and social transformation in Nepal.
The first book, Land, Labour, and Agrarian Change in Nepal’s Tarai-Madhesh, published by Cambridge University Press, is the result of 18 years of fieldwork in Nepal’s fertile eastern lowlands. Although this region is among the country’s most agriculturally productive areas, it remains marked by deep inequalities in land access.
Dr Sugden’s analysis traces how entrenched inequalities rooted in landlord–tenant systems continue under processes of capitalist globalisation and industrialisation. By focusing on land distribution, rent burdens, and property relations, the study illuminates how unequal access to land shapes food security, credit, market participation, and the adaptive capacity of households in the face of climate pressures.
The second volume, Agrarian History of Nepal: The Political Economy of Agro-ecological Change, co-authored with Nepali anthropologists Dr Suresh Dhakal and Dr Janak Rai, adopts a broader lens across the country’s diverse regions. It traces the historical trajectory of Nepal’s agrarian systems over the past 500 years, examining transitions from shifting cultivation regimes to sedentary rice–wheat agriculture and the emergence of hierarchical social structures associated with the rise of the Gorkha state.
This volume offers the first comprehensive national study of the agrarian transition in Nepal, showing how long-term historical pathways continue to shape present-day constraints on agricultural development. It was formally launched in July at Tribhuvan University, Nepal’s largest public university.
Dr Sugden’s work is embedded in a wider programme of collaboration between the University and Nepali institutions. Recent initiatives include:
A joint field trip between MSc Urban Planning students from Birmingham’s Dubai campus and Kathmandu University, co-organised by Dr Sugden with Dr Mohammad Radfar and Dr Rakib Akhtar.
A long-term research initiative on agricultural change and labour migration in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility.
The development of policy guidance for Nepali migrant workers in the UAE, Japan and Saudi Arabia, led by Professor John Round.
A collaborative PhD project, conducted by Ruby Shrestha with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley, co-supervised by Dr Rosie Day, Professor Francis Pope, and Dr Sugden.
Dr Sugden, who sits on the Central Committee of the Britain–Nepal Academic Council, also met with His Excellency Chandra Ghimire, Ambassador of Nepal to the UK, in July to explore opportunities for enhanced academic partnership.
Both books aim to uncover how the deep historical roots of rural inequality in Nepal continue to influence everyday life - even as economic change accelerates. By examining land, labour, and ecology together, I hope this research can help open up more equitable and climate-resilient pathways for agrarian societies across South Asia.
Join Dr Fraser Sugden and Dr Rakib Aktar for the celebration and discussion of two new books; Agrarian Change in Nepal’s Far-Eastern Tarai: Land, Labour and Capital from the 1700s to the Present and Neoliberalism and Hindutva in the Making of an Indian Smart City.
Tuesday 4 November, 12:30 - 14:00
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography
Dr Sugden studies how class, gender, and generational dynamics in agriculture respond to environmental, political, and economic pressures.
