From Class Struggle to Class Compromise: Redistribution and Growth in a South Indian State
Author(s)
Heller, Patrick
Abstract
“People-centered development” is often put forward as the alternative to many of the top-down, business-led development strategies so widely criticized by those advocating social and environmental sustainability. Such a strategy, featuring a redistributive-welfarist state investing heavily in public health and education, has been followed in the Indian state of Kerala. This article describes the Kerala model and examines the conditions that contributed to its success, and to its limitations. (While the article focuses a great deal on the political dynamics surrounding state power, this summary focuses more heavily on the part of the article that describes the model, its achievements, and its challenges.)
