Why read The Conditions of Agricultural Growth?

Book cover of The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change Under Population Pressure

Book description

When it first appeared in 1965, The Conditions of Agricultural Growth heralded a breakthrough in the theory of agricultural development. Whereas 'development' had previously been seen as the transformation of traditional communities by the introduction (or imposition) of new technologies, Ester Boserup argued that changes and improvements occur from within…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Conditions of Agricultural Growth as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mark Nathan Cohen

Author

This book upended the common—and my—perception of progress in human agriculture. The common assumption was that the fortuitous invention of agricultural tools like the hoe, the plow, and fertilizer produced advances in human agriculture's productivity, permitting larger populations to be supported. Boserup argued that growing populations forced farming to be intensified by dramatically reducing fallow periods and demanding compensatory technological changes.

Stimulated by this book and aware of Lee’s work (above), I expanded her argument to include the origins and intensification of agriculture. Her concept of population “pressure” as a motivator of change underlies much of my later work.

From Mark's list on The best books on the history and evolution of human society and health.