A re social movements fated to become more conservative as they become more organized? Weber offered a cogent explanation for why many social movement organizations follow this path. Modern organizations, he argued, inculcate in their members a bureaucratic orientation toward rules and organizational hierarchies; this is especially true of organizational officials, who develop a rational orientation toward the existing order, imprisoning themselves within its rules. 1 Elaborating on Weber's ideas, Michels ([1915] 1959) argued that organizations inherently concentrate power in the hands of officials, and even revolutionary parties abandon radical goals as their leaders accommodate themselves to the status quo and secure a comfortable place within it. These theses, concisely conveyed in Weber's famous description of bureaucracy as an "iron cage" and in Michels's "iron law of oligarchy," have long
The twelve articles in this special issue feature the work of scholars studying the dispossession of rural land in China and India. Each offers new insights about the extent and patterns of dispossession, the complex dynamics driving it, the consequences for farmers, as well as the factors shaping resistance or compliance. Although each article treats developments within one country, the collection helps uncover features common to rural land dispossession in China and India, and illuminates differences that shape the processes of dispossession in each country. Comparison of the two countries helps us to not only understand the future implications of this enormously important issue for economic growth, social inequality and politics in both countries, but also contributes insights useful for understanding this issue elsewhere in the world.
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