Persistence of the smallholder, withering away of the small farmer: Comments on Bhaduri, Rahman and Arn

Abstract Bhaduri, Rahman and Arn's article on the persistence of small farms in the April 1986 issue of The Journal of Peasant Studies is reviewed. The article raises a number of critical points for understanding the effects of capitalist penetration of land‐holding patterns in Bangladesh. It is argued that the discussion would benefit from a refined methodological and definitional focus to avoid misrepresenting processes of polarisation. Particular attention in this review is given to a critique of the construction of the land stability ratio and to the conceptualisation and definition of the term ‘small farm’. Notes Shelley Feldman, Department of Rural Sociology. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA; Florence E. McCarthy, Field‐International Study Programme, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University,…