Power, Protest and Participation: Local Elites and the Politics of Development in India (Routledge Library Editions: Political Protest Book 18)

This book, first published in 1992, examines the attitudes of local elites – the hinge between Indian state and rural society – towards protest and participation in development, illuminating arguments about the nature of the state as well as the development process. It looks at the role of local elites in India both as the representatives of the state and of the rest of rural society, and explains their importance in the country’s development. The book deals with the elites’ contribution to the credibility of the state and examines the strategies through which they manipulate the allocation of resources and influence the pace and direction of social change. It contrasts the rural elites in two areas, one more economically advanced than the other. The elites in the first area were shown to be capable of combining institutional participation with radical protest, whilst in the other they tended to rely on state channels to achieve reform. The author concludes that despite the different settings, both groups were informed, active and responsive to political conditions. This contrasts with the conventional view that local elites of the dominant castes oppress the lower ones by obstructing reforms, for reasons of self-interest. This book, first published in 1992, examines the attitudes of local elites – the hinge between Indian state and rural society – towards protest and participation in development, illuminating arguments about the nature of the state as well as the development process. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Original Title Page 6 Original Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Glossary 11 List of Illustrations 14 Preface 17 1 Local Elites and the Politics of Rural Development 22 The Problem Defined 22 Putting Local Development in the Context of Social and Economic Change 24 Power, Protest and Legitimacy 27 The Political Universe of India’s Rural Elites 32 The Region and Local Elites as Key Parameters of the Model of Development 35 An Alternative View of Local Elites as Socially Cohesive ‘Dominant’ Elites 43 Post-Independence Development Policy in India 44 The Social Consequences of Development 47 Protest Movements as an Alternative Form of Political Action 49 An Interactive Model of Participation in Development 51 The Context of Research 54 Plan of the Book 58 2 The Regional Context: The Social and Economic Background of Rural Development 59 The Objectives 59 The Regional Government and Policy Environment as Elements of the National Development Grid 62 The Institutions Connected with Development at the District Level 72 Surat District: Historical Background and Institutional Facilities 73 The Historical Context 74 The Cooperative Movement 77 Social Services and Infrastructural Facilities 78 Politics and Social Mobility 80 Dhenkanal District 83 The Demographic Characteristics 85 The Economy 86 Social Services and Infrastructural Facilities 89 The Uncertain Legacy of the State People’s Movement 90 Conclusion 93 3 The Elements of Design 97 The Objectives 97 The Personal and Social Attributes of Local Elites 101 Stratification Below the District Level 104 Use of the Reputational Method for the Identification of the Interview Sample 107 Inherited Status and Acquired Power: The Socio-Demographic Profile of the Sample 110 The Social Heterogeneity of Local Elites 112 Intergenerational Mobility 118 Organisational Affiliation and Elite Status 120 Conclusion 123 4 Setting the Local Agenda: The Problems, Progress and Agency of Rural Development 128 The Objectives 128 The Key Role of Local Elites as Opinion Makers 131 The Scope for Local Choice in Social and Economic Change 133 Room for Local Initiative 134 The Conceptualisation of Social and Economic Change 143 The Hierarchy of Problems 146 Solutions 150 The Effect of Social Class 152 A General Evaluation of Progress 156 Conclusion 158 5 The Social Construction of Local Conflict: Unequal Benefits, Radical Protest and Social Cohesion 162 The Objectives 162 Economic Change and Local Conflict 163 Radicalisation of the Local Political Arena 173 The Social Correlates of Radicalism 177 Conflict and Cohesion in the Local Arena 182 Conclusion 188 6 Institutional Participation and Radical Protest: The State, Society and Room for Manoeuvre in the Middle 194 The Objectives 194 The Rational, Moral and Cultural Models of Action 195 Local Elites and the Development Environment 199 The Nature of Elite Initiative and Efficacy 205 Socio-structural and Political Factors in the Benefits of Development 214 The Relationship of Institutional Participation and Radical Protest 219 Conclusion 221 7 Conclusion: The Two Faces of Development: Protest and Participation in India 227 The Problem Restated 227 Order, Development and the Polarisation Thesis 232 Situating the Model in the Indian Context 237 The Field Strategy for Identifying Rural Netas 239 The Rhetoric of Local Development 241 Region, Class and the Formation of Political Communities 242 General Implications of the Model of the Two Faces of Development 249 The State and Local Development in India 253 Appendix 264 The Background of the Survey 264 The Questionnaire and the Principal Results of the Survey 266 Notes 283 Bibliography 311 Author Index 328 Subject Index 330 Protest,Radical,Political protest,Rural development,Local elites This 26-volume set is a wide-ranging, time- and subject-spanning examination of the phenomenon of political protest. What drives people to take to the streets, and how do their governments respond? These questions and many more are analysed in areas as varied as sixteenth-century German peasant uprisings, revolutionary Russians at the Paris Commune, women protesting nuclear weapons at Greenham Common, and the role Christianity played in protests across the ages. An impressive reference resource, this set also looks at the policing of protests and official responses to them. This book, first published in 1930 and reissued in 1961, examines the Western phenomenon of the rise of the 'mass-man'. Analysing the state of society, it lays bare the problems that faced the countries of Europe in a book that resonates today in the imposition of direct action over discussion. This set of three previously out-of-print volumes collects together in one place key areas of research into the genre of science fiction. It critically examines science fiction, establishing its common themes and definitions, and comprehensively assesses the sci-fi world in its entirety.