Development, democracy and the state : critiquing the Kerala model of development / edited by K. Ravi Raman.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Kerala Model: situating the critique / K. Ravi Raman -- Caste, public action and the Kerala Model / K.T. Rammohan -- 'Community' as de-imagining nation: relocating the Ezhava movement in Kerala / J. Reghu -- Negotiating the Hindu state and nationalism: travails in the making of a community / M.M. Khan -- Freedom, economic reform and the Kerala 'Model' / M.A. Oommen -- On the periphery: Muslims and the Kerala Model / M. Kabir -- Learning to learn: Dalit education in Kerala / Roshni Padmanabhan -- Thinking through CT scanners: the value(s) of imaging technologies in Kerala / Caroline Wilson -- Asian Development Bank, conditionalities and the social democratic governance: Kerala Model under pressure? / K. Ravi Raman -- The conjuncture of 'late socialism' in Kerala: a critique of the narrative of social democracy / Nissim Mannathukkaren -- Empowerment or politicization? The limits of gender inclusiveness of Kerala's political decentralization / J. Devika, Binitha V. Thampi -- The institutionalization of dowry in Kerala: feminine identity, conjugal patronage and development / Praveena Kodoth -- 'Caring' cosmopolitans and global migration: plus change? / Shoba Arun -- Adivasi workers' struggles and the Kerala Model: interpreting the past, confronting the present / Luisa Steur -- Social space, civil society and transformative politics of new social movements in Kerala / T.T. Sreekumar, Govindan Parayil.

The Indian state of Kerala is known for its high social model of development and social democratic governance. This book presents the most comprehensive analysis of the Kerala Model of Social Development to date. The model has often been identified as one worth emulating because it is seen to have taken the state to the zenith of human development and democratic governance. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the book sheds new light on the paradoxes of the Indian state and its model of economic development. The book provides a consolidated exploration and critique of the Kerala model, which usually has been portrayed as linear with the grand narrative of progress, development and democracy. Chapters discuss the past and present dimensions of the Kerala experience from a historical and political-economic perspective, thus providing a fresh understanding of the emerging concerns in the state and the construction of an ethically viable development agenda, eschewing the scourge of social inequity. A significant contribution to the literature on development, democracy and the state, it analyses the complex interconnectedness of the various political-economic and socio-cultural domains involved in these experiences.