ENERGY USE AND SOCIAL-STRUCTURE IN A BANGLADESH VILLAGE

Energy availability and patterns of energy use are examined in the context of a single rural village. The traditional patron-client system in which richer peasants tried to underwrite the minimal needs of their poorer clients is being replaced by a system in which transactions between families of the same class are the norm and in which the poorest classes are deprived of access to limited resources and employment opportunities. The implications of this changing social structure for a major energy resource-fuel- are analyzed. It is shown that families of different classes use different types and sources of fuel, and it is the socially and economically most disadvantaged who are forced to purchase this increasingly scarce resource from the market. The current social structure and current mechanisms governing resource distribution are contrasted with historical patterns, and future patterns of energy use within the village are estimated.-Author