The message of Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development is clear: livelihoods approaches are an essential lens on questions of rural development, but these need to be situated in a better understanding of political economy. The book looks at the role of social institutions and the politics of policy, as well as issues of identity, gender and generation. The relationships between sustainability and livelihoods are examined, and the book situates livelihoods analysis within a wider political economy of environmental and agrarian change. Four dimensions of a new politics of livelihoods are suggested: a politics of interests, individuals, knowledge and ecology. Together, these suggest new ways of conceptualizing rural and agrarian issues, with profound implications for both thinking and action.

'This is an extraordinarily important book. It should become a classic. It is a must for every development professional. It is a masterly analysis and overview of the evolution and dimensions of the sustainable livelihoods approach, and opens up new territory of political economy, political ecology and a new politics of livelihoods. Concise yet comprehensive, combining and drawing on the perspectives of many disciplines, accessible to all readers, professionally impeccable, and on top of all this, original in its analysis and extension into new fields, this book is a wonderful contribution to development thinking and action. May it be very widely read, and may it be very influential.'
Robert Chambers, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

'In this uniquely comprehensive, lucid and valuable review of notions of sustainable livelihoods and their applications, Ian Scoones makes a potent argument for reinstating an expansive perspective on livelihoods, informed by the political economy of agrarian change, at the centre of current concerns with overcoming rural inequality and poverty.'
Henry Bernstein, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

'Ian Scoones has produced a book that is in perfect balance: immensely useful, it is also challenging; theoretically perceptive, it is wonderfully readable; historically informed, it also looks forward, proposing agendas for scholars and professionals alike. Students and practitioners will find it invaluable because it places livelihood thinking in context, explores its applications, explains its limits and — perhaps most important of all — persuades the reader that being political and being practical are absolutely not mutually exclusive options in development, whether writing about it or working within it.'
Anthony Bebbington, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University and idpm, University of Manchester

'This book offers a sanguine assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a sustainable livelihoods approach. The proposed extension of the approach builds on a political economy tradition in agrarian and development studies. Nurturing sustainable livelihoods for the poor is not just about recognizing their exceptional skill at making a living, which includes diversifying livelihoods, jumping scales and nesting home places within productive networks, but also mitigating their vulnerability to land grabs, drought and floods, natural disasters, corporate greed and venal politics.'
Simon Batterbury, University of Melbourne

Ian Scoones
Ian Scoones is co-director of the ESRC STEPS Centre at Sussex and joint convenor of the IDS-hosted Future Agricultures Consortium. He is an agricultural ecologist whose interdisciplinary research links the natural and social sciences.

Human adaptation to biodiversity change: An adaptation process approach applied to a case study from southern India

Thornton, Thomas F.

Puri, Rajindra K.

Bhagwat, Shonil

Howard, Patricia

Ambio, Vol. 48 (2019), Iss. 12 P.1431

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01225-7 [Citations: 7]

Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D

Digital Development: Elements of a Critical ICT4D Theory and Praxis

Bon, Anna

Akkermans, Hans

2019

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19115-3_3 [Citations: 2]

Plantations, outgrowers and commercial farming in Africa: agricultural commercialisation and implications for agrarian change

Hall, Ruth

Scoones, Ian

Tsikata, Dzodzi

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 44 (2017), Iss. 3 P.515

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2016.1263187 [Citations: 101]

Livelihoods, Land and Political Economy: Reflections on Sam Moyo’s Research Methodology

Scoones, Ian

Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy: A triannual Journal of Agrarian South Network and CARES, Vol. 5 (2016), Iss. 2-3 P.221

https://doi.org/10.1177/2277976016683750 [Citations: 1]

Livelihoods of Ethnic Minorities in Rural Zimbabwe

Theorising and Historicising the Livelihoods of Ethnic Minorities in Zimbabwe

Helliker, Kirk

Matanzima, Joshua

Chadambuka, Patience

2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94800-9_1 [Citations: 0]

Murky waters: the impact of privatizing water use on environmental degradation and the exclusion of local communities in the Caribbean

Herrera Arango, Johana

Senent-De Frutos, Juan Antonio

Molina, Elías Helo

(2021) P.1

https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2021.1931052 [Citations: 1]

Through the lens of a herder: insights into landscape ethno-ecological knowledge on rangelands in Namaqualand

Samuels, Mogamat Igshaan

Swarts, Melvin

Schroeder, Amy

Ntombela, Khululiwe

Cupido, Clement

Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 41 (2018), Iss. 2 P.136

https://doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2018.1462091 [Citations: 6]

The politics of youth struggles for land in post-land reform Zimbabwe

Chipato, Fadzai

Wang, Libin

Zuo, Ting

Mudimu, George T.

Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 47 (2020), Iss. 163 P.59

https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2020.1730781 [Citations: 5]

Community-supported agriculture in the United States: Social, ecological, and economic benefits to farming

Paul, Mark

Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 19 (2019), Iss. 1 P.162

https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12280 [Citations: 22]

What makes a successful livelihood recovery? a study of China’s Lushan earthquake

Pu, Gujun

Chang-Richards, Alice

Wilkinson, Suzanne

Potangaroa, Regan

Natural Hazards, Vol. 105 (2021), Iss. 3 P.2543

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04412-y [Citations: 3]

The global food system, agro-industrialization and governance: alternative conceptions for sub-Saharan Africa

Hamann, Steffi

Globalizations, Vol. 17 (2020), Iss. 8 P.1405

https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1730050 [Citations: 7]

‘Prosperity beyond belief’: The interaction between a potato crop boom, vulnerability and volcanic hazard in Central Java, Indonesia

Griffin, Christina

Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, Vol. 41 (2020), Iss. 1 P.23

https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12294 [Citations: 4]

Labour Questions in the Global South

Changing Forms of Wage Labour in Zimbabwe’s New Agrarian Structure

Chambati, Walter

2021

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4635-2_16 [Citations: 0]

Measuring climate resilience by linking shocks to development outcomes

Barrett, Sam

Brooks, Nick

Quadrianto, Novi

Anderson, Simon

Nebsu, Bayu

Climate and Development, Vol. 12 (2020), Iss. 7 P.677

https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2019.1676689 [Citations: 2]

Quels effets des circuits courts de commercialisation sur les moyens d’existence des agriculteurs familiaux ? Le cas d’une foire paysanne à Quito (Équateur)

Bonomelli, Veronica

Roudart, Laurence

(2019) P.95

https://doi.org/10.4000/economierurale.6599 [Citations: 2]

Measuring the implementation effects of rural revitalization in China’s Jiangsu Province: Under the analytical framework of “deconstruction, assessment and brainstorming”

Wang, Yi

Zhu, Yingming

Yu, Maojun

(2021)

https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12569 [Citations: 0]

Stayers in China's “hollowed-out” villages: A counter narrative on massive rural-urban migration

Ye, Jingzhong

Population, Space and Place, Vol. 24 (2018), Iss. 4 P.e2128

https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2128 [Citations: 35]

Global production networks, regional development trajectories and smallholder livelihoods in the Global South

Vicol, Mark

Fold, Niels

Pritchard, Bill

Neilson, Jeffrey

Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 19 (2019), Iss. 4 P.973

https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lby065 [Citations: 12]

Examining the interface of sustainability programmes and livelihoods in the Semendo highlands of Indonesia

Bray, Joshua

Neilson, Jeffrey

Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 59 (2018), Iss. 3 P.368

https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12205 [Citations: 6]

Faith, Work, Farming and Business: The Role of the Spiritual in West African Livelihoods

Swindell, Kenneth

Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 54 (2019), Iss. 6 P.819

https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619840754 [Citations: 2]

African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development

Rural Development and the Struggle for Land Reform in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Tshishonga, Ndwakhulu Stephen

2020

https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2306-3.ch005 [Citations: 0]

A green new deal for agriculture: for, within, or against capitalism?

Selwyn, Benjamin

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 48 (2021), Iss. 4 P.778

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1854740 [Citations: 4]

Can communities close to Bui National Park mediate the impacts of Bui Dam construction? An exploration of the views of some selected households

Jones, Lewis Arthur

International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, Vol. 10 (2018), Iss. 1 P.12

https://doi.org/10.5897/IJBC2017.1132 [Citations: 1]

Electrification as development for sustainable livelihoods at Mt. Kasigau, Kenya

Myers, Christopher W.

Medley, Kimberly E.

African Geographical Review, Vol. 38 (2019), Iss. 4 P.326

https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2018.1436077 [Citations: 1]

An Interview with Henry Bernstein

Capps, Gavin

Campling, Liam

Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 16 (2016), Iss. 3 P.370

https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12171 [Citations: 1]

Repossession, Re-informalization and Dispossession: The ‘Muddy Terrain’ of Land Commodification in Turkey

Atasoy, Yildiz

Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 17 (2017), Iss. 4 P.657

https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12182 [Citations: 7]

Resource integration in smallholder farms for sustainable livelihoods in developing countries

Goswami, Rupak

Dasgupta, Purnabha

Saha, Subhrajit

Venkatapuram, Pranaya

Nandi, Somen

Yildiz, Fatih

Cogent Food & Agriculture, Vol. 2 (2016), Iss. 1

https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2016.1272151 [Citations: 2]

Revisiting A Theory of Access: A review

Myers, Rodd

Hansen, Christian Pilegaard

Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 33 (2020), Iss. 2 P.146

https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2018.1560522 [Citations: 18]

Participation of Smallholder Farmers in Modern Bioenergy Value Chains in Africa: Opportunities and Constraints

Tagwi, Aluwani

Chipfupa, Unity

(2022)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-022-10451-z [Citations: 0]

Collective Capacity to Aspire? Aspirations and Livelihood Strategies in the Zambezi Region, Namibia

Aring, Mascha

Reichardt, Ole

Katjizeu, Ewaldine Menjono

Luyanda, Brendan

Hulke, Carolin

The European Journal of Development Research, Vol. 33 (2021), Iss. 4 P.933

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-021-00412-1 [Citations: 2]

The Politics of Sustainability and Development

Scoones, Ian

Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 41 (2016), Iss. 1 P.293

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-090039 [Citations: 92]

Pastoralists and peasants: perspectives on agrarian change

Scoones, Ian

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 48 (2021), Iss. 1 P.1

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1802249 [Citations: 9]

Amazonian peasant livelihood differentiation as mutuality-market dialectics

Fraser, James Angus

Cardoso, Thiago

Steward, Angela

Parry, Luke

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 45 (2018), Iss. 7 P.1382

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2017.1296833 [Citations: 13]

The use of sustainable agricultural methods amongst smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

Bese, David

Zwane, Elliot

Cheteni, Priviledge

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Vol. 13 (2021), Iss. 3 P.261

https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2020.1724388 [Citations: 4]

From sea to exclusion: livelihood transformation of the Islanders

Christian, Y

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Vol. 241 (2019), Iss. P.012007

https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/241/1/012007 [Citations: 0]

Farm and Rural Community Management in Less Favored Areas

Agriculture Based on Regional Self-Sufficiency in Mountain Villages

Inoue, Norikazu

2020

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7352-1_7 [Citations: 0]

Assets and domestic units: methodological challenges for longitudinal studies of poverty dynamics

Brockington, Dan

Coast, Ernestina

Mdee, Anna

Howland, Olivia

Randall, Sara

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 48 (2021), Iss. 1 P.159

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2019.1658079 [Citations: 9]

Teaching and Learning Rural Livelihoods

Sustainable Livelihoods Approach

Tambe, Sandeep

2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90491-3_4 [Citations: 0]

Changing Forms of Wage Labour in Zimbabwe’s New Agrarian Structure

Chambati, Walter

Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy: A triannual Journal of Agrarian South Network and CARES, Vol. 6 (2017), Iss. 1 P.79

https://doi.org/10.1177/2277976017721346 [Citations: 11]

Infrastructure projects and rural politics in northern Kenya: the use of divergent expertise to negotiate the terms of land deals for transport infrastructure

Enns, Charis

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 46 (2019), Iss. 2 P.358

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2017.1377185 [Citations: 20]

Agrarian social movements: The absurdly difficult but not impossible agenda of defeating right‐wing populism and exploring a socialist future

Borras, Saturnino M.

Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 20 (2020), Iss. 1 P.3

https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12311 [Citations: 51]

Teaching and Learning Rural Livelihoods

Embedding Livelihood Approaches in Science, Policy, and Practice

Tambe, Sandeep

2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90491-3_11 [Citations: 0]

A methodological framework for sustainable development with vulnerable communities

Ribeiro, Lucas F.V.

McMartin, Dena W.

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Vol. 11 (2019), Iss. 2 P.133

https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2018.1532629 [Citations: 3]

Farmer experiences of Tiyeni’s ‘deep-bed farming’ conservation agriculture system in Malawi

Mvula, Albert

Dixon, Alan

Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, Vol. 45 (2021), Iss. 2 P.175

https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2020.1819513 [Citations: 0]

Institutional environments and the livelihood impacts of voluntary sustainability standards: A Village‐based analysis from southern Sumatra's coffee sector

Bray, Joshua G.P.

Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, Vol. 40 (2019), Iss. 2 P.291

https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12275 [Citations: 1]

Private adaptation in semi-arid lands: a tailored approach to ‘leave no one behind’

Gannon, Kate Elizabeth

Crick, Florence

Atela, Joanes

Babagaliyeva, Zhanna

Batool, Samavia

Bedelian, Claire

Carabine, Elizabeth

Conway, Declan

Diop, Mamadou

Fankhauser, Sam

Jobbins, Guy

Ludi, Eva

Qaisrani, Ayesha

Rouhaud, Estelle

Simonet, Catherine

Suleri, Abid

Wade, Cheikh Tidiane

Global Sustainability, Vol. 3 (2020), Iss.

https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2019.26 [Citations: 2]

Beyond sustainable livelihoods: A diverse economies approach to rural peasant livelihoods in China's Qinghai Province

Duojie, Caihuan

Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 63 (2022), Iss. 1 P.12

https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12331 [Citations: 1]

A bitter pill: smallholder responses to the new green revolution prescriptions in northern Ghana

Vercillo, S.

Weis, T.

Luginaah, I.

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, Vol. 27 (2020), Iss. 6 P.565

https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2020.1733702 [Citations: 11]

Capital, rules or conflict? Factors affecting livelihood-strategies, infrastructure-resilience, and livelihood-vulnerability in the polders of Bangladesh

Nath, Sanchayan

van Laerhoven, Frank

Driessen, Peter

Nadiruzzaman, Md.

Sustainability Science, Vol. 15 (2020), Iss. 4 P.1169

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00818-6 [Citations: 10]

Migration, Agriculture and Rural Development

Rural Origin Areas: Impacts and Practices

Nori, Michele

Farinella, Domenica

2020

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42863-1_5 [Citations: 0]

Multilevel and Spatially Heterogeneous Factors Influencing Poor Households’ Income in a Frontier Minority Area in Northeast China

Wang, Binyan

Rosenberg, Mark W.

Wang, Shijun

Yang, Peifeng

Tian, Junfeng

Xu, Honglei

Complexity, Vol. 2021 (2021), Iss. P.1

https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8834422 [Citations: 1]

Heritage and patrimony of the peasantry framework to address rural development and its application in Colombia

Pachón Ariza, Fabio Alberto

Bokelmann, Wolfgang

Ramírez Miranda, César Adrián

Acta Agronómica, Vol. 66 (2017), Iss. 3 P.347

https://doi.org/10.15446/acag.v66n3.60949 [Citations: 2]

The Covid-19 Pandemic: Limited Water Access and the Precarity of Women Fishers at Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe

Nhiwatiwa, Tamuka

Matanzima, Joshua

(2022) P.002190962110696

https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096211069641 [Citations: 0]

Critical realism in empirical research: employing techniques from grounded theory methodology

Hoddy, Eric T

International Journal of Social Research Methodology, Vol. 22 (2019), Iss. 1 P.111

https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2018.1503400 [Citations: 24]

Critical Transitions from Pastoralism to Ranching in Central Africa

Schareika, Nikolaus

Brown, Christopher

Moritz, Mark

Current Anthropology, Vol. 62 (2021), Iss. 1 P.53

https://doi.org/10.1086/713248 [Citations: 6]

No cash, no food. Gendered reorganization of livelihoods and food security in Cambodia

Gironde, Christophe

Reysoo, Fenneke

Torrico Ramirez, Andres

Suon, Seng

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 48 (2021), Iss. 7 P.1485

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2021.1960826 [Citations: 2]

The gender and geography of agricultural commercialisation: what implications for the food security of Ghana’s smallholder farmers?

Dzanku, Fred Mawunyo

Tsikata, Dzodzi

Ankrah, Daniel Adu

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 48 (2021), Iss. 7 P.1507

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2021.1945584 [Citations: 2]

Studying home gardens as if people mattered: Why don't food-insecure households in rural Myanmar cultivate home gardens?

Pritchard, Bill

Vicol, Mark

Rammohan, Anu

Welch, Elen

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 46 (2019), Iss. 5 P.1047

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2018.1431623 [Citations: 7]

Assets, cash transfers and urban livelihoods in South Africa

Nnaeme, Chibuikem

Patel, Leila

Plagerson, Sophie

Journal of International Development, Vol. 33 (2021), Iss. 2 P.382

https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3527 [Citations: 2]

Potatoes, Petty Commodity Producers and Livelihoods: Contract farming and agrarian change in Maharashtra, India

Vicol, Mark

Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 19 (2019), Iss. 1 P.135

https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12273 [Citations: 19]

Seeing land deals through the lens of the ‘land–water nexus’: the case of biofuel production in Piura, Peru

Tejada, Laura

Rist, Stephan

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 45 (2018), Iss. 7 P.1247

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2016.1259220 [Citations: 6]

A participatory framework for feasibility assessments of climate change resilience strategies for smallholders: lessons from coffee cooperatives in Latin America

Shapiro-Garza, Elizabeth

King, Danielle

Rivera-Aguirre, Ariadne

Wang, Sapphire

Finley-Lezcano, Jennifer

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol. 18 (2020), Iss. 1 P.21

https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2019.1658841 [Citations: 9]

Community Practice and Social Development in Social Work

From Development to Poverty Alleviation and the Not-So-Sustainable Sustainable Development

Gray, Mel

2020

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6969-8_6 [Citations: 0]

Environmentality, green grabbing, and neoliberal conservation: The ambiguous role of ecotourism in the Green Life privatised nature reserve, Sumatra, Indonesia

Wieckardt, Chantal Elizabeth

Koot, Stasja

Karimasari, Nadya

(2020) P.1

https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1834564 [Citations: 3]

Translocal Lives: Gender and Rural Mobilities in South Africa, 1970–2020

Vibert, Elizabeth

Politikon, Vol. 47 (2020), Iss. 4 P.460

https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2020.1840027 [Citations: 1]

Community Practice and Social Development in Social Work

From Development to Poverty Alleviation and the Not-So-Sustainable Sustainable Development

Gray, Mel

2020

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1542-8_6-1 [Citations: 0]

Teaching and Learning Rural Livelihoods

SDGs and Continued Relevance of Rural Livelihoods

Tambe, Sandeep

2022

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90491-3_3 [Citations: 0]

Green economy, Scandinavian investments and agricultural modernization in Tanzania

Bergius, Mikael

Benjaminsen, Tor A.

Widgren, Mats

The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 45 (2018), Iss. 4 P.825

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2016.1260554 [Citations: 46]

Can large-scale land acquisition deals improve livelihoods and lift people out of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? Empirical evidence from Tanzania

Nkansah-Dwamena, Ernest

(2021) P.1

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2021.103.013 [Citations: 1]

To Ban or Not to Ban? Reviewing an Ongoing Dilemma on Sea Turtle Egg Trade in Terengganu, Malaysia

Mohd Jani, Jarina

Jamalludin, Muhammad Allim

Long, Seh Ling

Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 6 (2020), Iss.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00762 [Citations: 3]

Local community perceptions toward livelihood and water–energy–food nexus: A perspective on food security

Wolde, Zinabu

Wei, Wu

Kunpeng, Wang

Ketema, Haile

Food and Energy Security, Vol. 9 (2020), Iss. 3

https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.207 [Citations: 7]

Factors influencing participation and income from charcoal production and trade in Ghana

Brobbey, Lawrence Kwabena

Pouliot, Mariéve

Hansen, Christian Pilegaard

Kyereh, Boateng

Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 50 (2019), Iss. P.69

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2019.03.003 [Citations: 7]