Weapons of the Weak: The Violent Consequences of Biased Technological Change

CASI Seminar

in partnership with South Asia Center and Penn's Comparative Politics Workshop

Aditya Dasgupta
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, Merced
A Virtual CASI Seminar via Zoom — 12 Noon EDT | 9:30pm IST





About the Seminar:
Technological change is typically biased, benefiting some groups relatively more than others. What are the political consequences for the relative losers? This seminar draws lessons from a historical natural experiment: the spread of high-yielding variety (HYV) crops during the green revolution in India, which led to large improvements in agricultural productivity but also growing inequality between landowners and the rural poor. Analyses of panel household survey data indicate that the spread of HYV crops contributed to rising intra-village inequality. Using district-level panel data on HYV crop adoption linked to digitized electoral and crime data, this seminar provides evidence that growing rural inequality resulting from new crop technology resulted in an explosion of rural crime, especially banditry. Despite early fears of a "red revolution," growing rural inequality did not translate into support for left-wing parties at the ballot box. The findings highlight how biased technological change can spark a backlash from those who are left behind—through “weapons of the weak,” including crime and violence, if not through formal political mobilization.

About the Speaker:
Aditya Dasgupta is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Merced. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and has previously been a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University. His research interests are in comparative politics, political economy, and economic history, with a focus on the rural sector, as well as organizations such as political parties and bureaucracy.

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.