Prior to the industrial revolution, the major class conflict in most societies was between farmers and the economic and political elites who expropriated their harvests. Today, such a concept of class appears archaic and irrelevant to the social structures we live in. But, the 2020s have seen a resurgence of aggressive political actions by farmers, couched in terms of class struggle. These include the ongoing protests of farmers in India to defend the Minimum Support Price, and the farmer protests across Europe against new EU environmental standards. How do protests like these fit into our contemporary social and political landscape, and how do they reflect the history of class?

Johan Gärdebo, a research fellow at Cambridge University studying conflicts over decarbonization, will discuss these timely and provocative questions in conversation with Hamilton Craig, a PhD student in History at the Graduate Center, who studies radical farmers’ movements in the U.S. on May 17th from 2:30 – 4 in the History lounge (room 5114). Open to the public.

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