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We-ness and Welfare: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Development in Kerala, India

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  • Singh, Prerna

Abstract

Summary This paper challenges the conventional wisdom that ethnic diversity negatively influences public goods provision through a longitudinal study of the Indian state of Kerala, which has attained exceptional levels of social development despite high fragmentation along religious and caste lines. This paper argues that it is not objective diversity but a subjective sense of "we-ness," which is the key determinant of the level of public goods provision and social development. A historical analysis of Kerala illustrates how a cohesive subnational community generates progressive social policy as well as societal monitoring of schools and clinics, which together give rise to relatively high levels of education and health outcomes.

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  • Singh, Prerna, 2011. "We-ness and Welfare: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Development in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 282-293, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:39:y:2011:i:2:p:282-293
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    2. Paul Anand & Swati Saxena & Rolando Gonzales Martinez & Hai-Anh H. Dang, 2020. "Can Women’s Self-help Groups Contribute to Sustainable Development? Evidence of Capability Changes from Northern India," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 137-160, April.
    3. Olle Törnquist & John Harriss, 2015. "Comparative Notes on Indian Experiences of Social Democracy: Kerala and West Bengal," Working Papers id:7482, eSocialSciences.
    4. Foa, Roberto Stefan, 2022. "Decentralization, historical state capacity and public goods provision in Post-Soviet Russia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Girard, Victoire, 2011. "The impact of inter-group relationships on intra-group cooperation. A case study in rural India," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 32, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    6. Prerna Singh & Dean Spears, 2017. "How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision: Experimental evidence on caste and tolerance for teacher absenteeism in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Wilfahrt, Martha, 2018. "The politics of local government performance: Elite cohesion and cross-village constraints in decentralized Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 149-161.
    8. Prerna Singh & Dean Spears, 2017. "How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision: Experimental evidence on caste and tolerance for teacher absenteeism in India," WIDER Working Paper Series 129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Aseema Sinha, 2015. "Scaling Up: Beyond the Subnational Comparative Method for India," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 3(1), pages 128-133, June.

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