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Dignity through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies

Author

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  • Vijayendra Rao

    (Development Research Group of the World Bank)

  • Paromita Sanyal

    (Wesleyan University)

Abstract

Employing a view of culture as a communicative phenomenon involving discursive engagement, the authors argue that the struggle to break free of poverty is as much a cultural process as it is political and economic. The authors analyze public meetings in Indian village democracies, gram sabhas , where villagers are constitutionally empowered to make decisions regarding budgetary allocations for village development and beneficiary selection for antipoverty programs. They examine 290 transcripts of gram sabhas from South India, looking at how they create a culture of civic/political engagement and how the definition of poverty is understood within them. They highlight how gram sabhas impart discursive skills and civic agency and illustrate how the poor deploy these skills in a resource-scarce and socially stratified environment. The intersection of poverty, culture, and deliberative democracy sheds light on cultural processes that can be influenced by public action in a manner that helps improve the voice and agency of the poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Vijayendra Rao & Paromita Sanyal, 2010. "Dignity through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 629(1), pages 146-172, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:629:y:2010:i:1:p:146-172
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716209357402
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ghazala Mansuri, 2004. "Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 19(1), pages 1-39.
    2. Timothy Besley & Rohini Pande & Vijayendra Rao, 2005. "Participatory Democracy in Action: Survey Evidence from South India," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 648-657, 04/05.
    3. Dryzek, John S. & List, Christian, 2003. "Social Choice Theory and Deliberative Democracy: A Reconciliation," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 1-28, January.
    4. Heller, Patrick & Harilal, K.N. & Chaudhuri, Shubham, 2007. "Building Local Democracy: Evaluating the Impact of Decentralization in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 626-648, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Bamberger & Vijayendra Rao & Michael Woolcock, 2009. "Using Mixed Methods in Monitoring and Evaluation: Experiences from International Development’," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 10709, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Elizabeth Seale, 2017. "The Relational Experience of Poverty: Challenges for Family Planning and Autonomy in Rural Areas," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 331-354, September.
    3. Vani S. Kulkarni, 2012. "The Making and Unmaking of Local Democracy in an Indian Village," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 642(1), pages 152-169, July.
    4. Shylashri Shankar & Raghav Gaiha, 2011. "Networks and Anti-Poverty Programs: The NREG Experience," ASARC Working Papers 2011-05, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.

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