Overview of Development, Decentralisation and Democracy Book

As an ideology and as a system of governance, democracy has contributed the most to human progress the world over. But for a democracy to be genuinely democratic and representative, that is, of the people, by the people and for the people , it must be made meaningful in implementation and answerable for the lives of all its subjects. In other words, a true democracy is a daily plebiscite. This volume addresses the broad themes of development as freedom, equality and human ascent within the framework of democracy and decentralised governance. Fourteen essays. Diverse in their range of concerns, perspectives and insights the common thread binding them is the emphasis on human development and social inclusion. The volume editors Introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the subject, a broad theoretical framework for the volume, and brief summaries of the essays. The first seven essays interrogate and critique the ideas of democracy, development, and how development has been understood to mean the pursuit of growth that is market driven and measured solely in terms of GNP. This implies that what the GNP cannot measure is not termed growth , which excludes the lives and endeavours of more than half the people of a country like India. Hence, the urgent need to search for alternative redefinitions of the idea of development which is inclusive of all, both at the level of policy and implementation. The other seven essays look at issues like primary education; food security; financing for metropolises (for e.g., Mumbai); caste and gender parity (which India is still struggling to achieve); technology as freedom because technology has the power to create a level playing field for all; decentralisation and innovation in governance, in particular, the Kerala model of development , Latin American experiments in democracy, and China s astounding growth story all of which offer valuable comparisons and lessons for India, and the world at large. Contributed by scholars of national and international repute, these fourteen essays are a fitting tribute to well-known developmental economist Professor M. A. Oommen whose influential writings and teachings reflect a lifelong commitment to equity. List of Tables and Figures Publisher s Acknowledgements Acknowledgements Introduction Ash Narain Roy and George Mathew The Need for Impatience Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen A Synopsis of the Idea of Development Henry Veltmeyer Reconceptualising Social Development Manoranjan Mohanty Technology, Freedom and Development: Towards Some Conceptual Clarifications T. K. Oommen Development as Growth of GNP: The Trojan Horse of Development Discourse K. N. Kabra A Post-Capitalist Paradigm: The Common Good of Humanity and the Progressive Governments of Latin America Fran ois Houtart Amartya Sen in Beijing: Comparing Human Development in India and China Joseph Tharamangalam Universal Primary Education, the Obstacles in Rural Areas: A Comparison. G. K. Lieten Poverty Alleviation: The Indian Food Security Oriented Approach M. H. Suryanarayana Metropolitan City Finance in India: Options for a New Fiscal Architecture Roy Bahl Politics of a Public Space Refusing to be Public Enough: A Case of Innovation in Governance from Kerala K. N. Harilal Towards Sustainable Innovation: The Plantation Sector in Kerala K. J. Joseph State, Markets, and Changing Household Demand for Education in Kerala N. V. Varghese Family Planning and the History of Gender in Kerala: A Brief Foray J. Devika M. A. Oommen: A Profile Ash Narain Roy Comprehensive: The volume brings together essays spanning diverse dimensions of development, democratic governance, and social justice, with illustrative, topical analyses cited from India, Latin America and China. Relevant: All the essays are critical to contemporary development discourse and policy debates. Eminent authors: The contributors are acknowledged scholars of national and international repute, including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Jean Dreze, Padma Shree T. K. Oommen, Kamal Nayan Kabra (Institute of Social Sciences; former FCI director), Belgian Marxist Sociologist and UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize awardee Francois Houtart. Professor M A Oommen, to whom the volume is dedicated, is himself an eminent developmental economist and an influential scholar. He has taught an entire generation of economists in Kerala (many of them today hold important positions in administration and policy-making). He has also served as a policy advisor to several state government committees. Interdisciplinary: The volume will be of interest to economists as well as scholars of developmental studies, finance, public policy, governance, and sociology. It also provides excellent supplementary reading for graduate and undergraduate courses in universities around the world, as well as national and international think tanks and policy research centres working in development and governance (listed below with hyperlinks).

• Book Type :

Society&SocialSciences

• Book Binding :

Paperback

• Language :

English

• Number of Pages :

• ISBN - 10 :

812505877X

• Development, Decentralisation and Democracy Published On :

2015

• Resource:

Students and Professionals:Society&SocialSciences

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