A rich and sensitive portrait of a changing peasantry, this study is also a general inquiry into the nature of status, class, and community in the developing world. Robert Hefner presents an analysis designed to bridge the gap between village studies and social history. He describes the forces that have shaped upland politics and society from pre-colonial times to the Green Revolution today.

"Professor Hefner's study . . . shows just what can be done when [regional studies on Southeast Asia] are mined by an imaginative scholar who has also carried out detailed field-work in the region under study. . . . The main conclusion which Hefner draws from this fascinating study is an important one for many developing societies."—School of Oriental and African Studies