Marcus Taylor
Department Head and Professor
PhD (Sociology), University of Warwick
Mackintosh-Corry Hall, A402
Queen's University
Global Development Studies
Curriculum Vitae (PDF 361KB)
Political Ecology | Agriculture and Agrarian Studies | Labour and Livelihoods | Climate Change
My research analyses the complex social and ecological forces that are reshaping contemporary agrarian regions in an era of political economic turbulence and climatic change. Working in the field of political ecology, I explore the dynamic interplay between government policies, food production, environmental change and rural livelihoods. My current SSHRC-funded research applies this approach to the transformation of rice production in contemporary Asia, including active field research in semi-arid India. Based on interviews with farmers, labourers, agricultural officers and policy makers, I examine how differential access to land, water, labour and credit shapes who can implement and benefit from new methods of rice intensification.
Prior to this project, my previous book, The Political Ecology of Climate Change Adaptation (Routledge 2015), provided the first systematic critique of the concept of climate change adaptation within the field of international development. Earlier published work explored themes in the political economy of development including labour and global commodity chains; labour markets, social policy and anti-poverty policies in Latin America; and the promises and pitfalls of microfinance as a development tool.
I welcome graduate students interested in studying any aspect of the social, political and environmental forces shaping contemporary agriculture and the associated impacts upon food security and rural livelihoods. Additionally, I continue to supervise widely in the areas of political ecology and political economy; labour in the global economy; livelihoods and anti-poverty poverty policies.
Cross Appointed to the Department of Sociology and the School of Environmental Studies
Full publication list is available on Google Scholar and Researchgate
Marcus Taylor (2015) The Political Ecology of Climate Change Adaptation: Livelihoods, Agrarian Change and the Conflicts of Development. London: Routledge Press.
Marcus Taylor and Suhas Bhasme (2020) “Between Deficit Rains and Surplus Populations: The Political Ecology of a Climate-Resilient Village in South India”, Geoforum.
Marcus Taylor (2020) “Hybrid Realities: Making a ‘New Green Revolution’ for Rice in South India”, Journal of Peasant Studies. 47(3), pp. 482-502
Marcus Taylor (2018) “Climate-smart Agriculture: What is it Good For?”, Journal of Peasant Studies, 45(1), pp. 89-107.