The various approaches to the food problem that can be found in the literature fall broadly into two groups. One group emphasises the natural sciences and engineering, and relates the food problem to technological issues of various kinds. The other group concentrates on social issues, including political economy, and sees the food problem primarily in social terms. At the risk of oversimplification, the two classes of approach may be called 'nature-focused' and 'society-focused', respectively. These are not, of course, pure, unmixed categories; the classification reflects the relative emphasis that is placed on the different factors. It is really a question of focus rather than of coverage. It is fair to say that the nature-focused view has been traditionally the dominant one. Scepticism about the contribution that the social sciences can make to the food problem is not new. In fact, the antiquity of the nature-focused view of the food problem is brought out by an interesting conversation in Plato's Statesman, one of his celebrated dialogues involving Socrates. The so-called Stranger says the following:

Food Problem: Theory and Policy

Because Stalin’s policy of famine creation in the early 1930s has been viewed through the prism of communist theory and practices, scholars have paid less attention to the imperial/colonial discourse of the period. This essay attempts to show the suitability of applying theoretical models of dependence and imperialism to analyze the dynamics and consequences of the collectivization of agriculture and the Holodomor (the mass deaths through starvation in Ukraine). The pressure applied to all regions of the USSR, resulting from the “communist experiment,” was in Soviet Ukraine supplemented and intensified, and, at some points, determined by a system of centre-periphery relations, characterized by political domination, control, the subordination of regional political elites to the centre, and the exploitation of economic resources. The appropriation of sovereignty over the Ukrainian republic by the central government in Moscow included establishing full control over Ukraine’s food resources, such as determining grain harvesting and distribution. The ongoing exploitation of Ukrainian economic resources and the anti-Ukrainian terror caused the Ukrainian famine of 1928-29. These also became significant factors in the onset of the 1932-33 Holodomor.

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Stalin’s Faminogenic Policies in Ukraine: The Imperial Discourse

After the 2007 Global Financial Crisis, although there has been a renewed interest
in the history of economic thought (HET hereafter) worldwide, it still occupies a
marginal presence in the economics curriculum. In India, among other places, HET
is taught in Ambedkar University Delhi, Azim Premji University, Calcutta
University, Central University of Karnataka, Purnea University, and several
colleges in Bihar and Kerala. The syllabi for HET at most of these institutions are
not updated with the latest research articles and books in this area. This review
essay is also intended to serve as a roadmap for HET courses by underscoring
important conceptual issues and themes in the history of economic thought as well
as broader concerns like the sociology of economic thought.

A brief history of economic thought: a review essay

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Economic ideas and British policy towards India 3. Economic ideas and famine policy 4. Economic ideas and economic relations 5. Economic ideas and land taxation 6. Economic ideas and taxation policies 7. Political economy and a policy of economic development 8. The state and the policy for economic development 9. Conclusion Select bibliography Index.

S. Ambirajan

Papers

Classical Political Economy and British Policy in India: Conclusion