3 Abstract Recent changes in the agrarian studies and geography literatures present difering views on the pace and trajectory of change in rural developing areas. In this special section of Human Geography, we contrast the theoretical and practice implications of these difering approaches, namely depeasantization, accumulation by dispossession and deproletarianiza- tion. Depeasantization refers to change in livelihood activities out of agriculture, long theorized as necessary for an area’s transition into capitalism. Accumulation by dispossession is a process of on-going capital accu- mulation where a give resource is privatized, seized, or in some other manner alienated from common ownership in order to provide a basis for continued capital accumulation. Deproletarianization occurs when workers are no longer able to freely commodify and recommodify their only commodity, their own labour. In this section, we explore these three theses with case studies that draw upon empirical data. Te papers in this collection all speak to one aspect or another of these debates. We do not intend to try to determine a “best approach”, rather we explore strengths and weaknesses of each argument. Te production of nature, change in the mode of production and the political economy of nature are discussed in the frst article by Brent McCusker. Phil O’Keefe and Geof O’Brien examine the evolution of worked landscape under pre-capitalist modes of production in riverine ecologies. Trough further case studies, Paul O’Keefe explores links between livelihoods and climate change in Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, while Franklin Graham explores the per- sistence of pastoralism in the Sahel. Finally, Naomi INTRODUCTION: PEASANTS, PASTORALISTS AND PROLETARIANS: JOINING THE DEBATES ON TRAJECTORIES OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, LIVELIHOODS AND LAND USE Brent McCusker, Paul O’Keefe Phil O’Keefe, Geoff O’Brien Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 School of Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK