Rural development is linked crucially with rural structure, though the latter is often difficult to analyse. This book analyses rural classes and the diverse relations between producers in order to understand the relationship between Third World farmers and the international economy, and the significance of this for development and underdevelopment. The author introduces a number of theoretical distinctions and devises a systematic framework which is applied to the analysis of a range of rural producers. The book assesses a number of strategies employed in planned development in the light of their implications for rural social structure, and thus for development in the Third World. This book provides an intensive and original conceptual and practical discussion of the possibilities for development under capitalism, and will be of interest to economists, political scientists and sociologists, as well as those working in development studies.