ABSTRACT
Covid-19 generated a crisis in capitalism, but not of capitalism. Capitalism reproduces itself in crisis and in ways that have significant but uneven impacts on the conditions and struggles of agrarian classes of labour. This article explores preliminary studies of how Covid-19 has affected agrarian social formations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the farmers, petty commodity producers, labourers and agribusinesses who populate them. It considers some of the implications for wage-labour, agriculture, accumulation and social reproduction including care work. And it briefly considers Covid-19's political impacts-in terms of the role of the state and possibilities for challenging capitalism, its violence and its ecological crisis.
ABSTRACT
Although Seychelles is a very small country with a population of 79 879 in 2003, it has a complex and under-studied society and economy. In order to provide broad context, this article provides an overview of the national population trends before framing Seychelles in the concept of a small island developing state (SIDS). This serves to highlight macroeconomic and geographical realities. The article then gives a short sketch of the transition of the economy from the colonial period to the present. These two sections provide understanding of the country's vulnerabilities and export- orientated productive base, thereby explicating the economic input to social development. The next section provides analysis of a cross- section of key indicators of social development. This demonstrates the comparatively high levels of human development in Seychelles. Finally, the article briefly examines how social development has been sustained since independence and outlines challenges to maintaining socio-economic gains in the medium-term future.
