The Labor of Development
Workers and the Transformation of Capitalism in Kerala, India
Published on 12. January 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-8014-8624-1 (ISBN)
Description
The state of Kerala in southern India is notable for the ways in which lower-class mobilization and state intervention have combined to create one of the most successful cases of social and redistributive development in the Third World. In contrast to predictions that labor militancy in developing countries threatens to overload fledgling democratic institutions and derail economic growth, The Labor of Development shows that the political and economic inclusion of industrial and agricultural workers in Kerala set the stage for a democratically negotiated capitalist transformation.When compared to the other Indian states, Kerala's departure from the national pattern is tied to its history of social movements and highlights the significance of understanding sub-national patterns of democratic consolidation and state building. The case of Kerala provides important theoretical insights into the circumstances under which the expansion of political and social citizenship can become the basis for managing economic change. Using examples from agriculture, industry, and the informal sector, Patrick Heller examines the institutional and political dynamics through which the demands of organized labor and the imperatives of capitalist growth have evolved from a period of open conflict and stagnation to one of class compromise. He also demonstrates that the Kerala model has broad ramifications for understanding the relationship between substantive democracy and market economies in low-income countries.
Reviews / Votes
This is a well-written book that will be of interest to South Asia specialists as well as students of development studies, economic sociology, political economy, industrial relations, and democratization.- Rudra Sil, University of Pennsylvania (American Journal of Sociology) Heller's work challenges both mainstream and some Marxist analyses of capitalist development.... The Labor of Development should be required reading for all World Bank and International Monetary Fund apologists and mandarins who sing the praises of neoliberal structural adjustment and ignore the rich development potential of worker and peasant agitation within the capitalist world order.
- John Willoughby (Review of Radical Politic Economics) Patrick Heller offers an important and compelling account of how powerful social movements articulated to a democratic state can drive a mode of economic development that is certainly more equitable, and perhaps more effective, than the reigning neoliberal prescriptions.... His book should be read by those interested in comparative political sociology, social movements, development, and political economy.
- Archon Fung, Harvard University (Contemporary Sociology) This book is an engaging and insightful account of social development.... I recommend The Labor of Development without reservation.
- Adam Lee (Industrial and Labor Relations Review. October, 2000.) This is the first and most up-to-date scholarly contribution towards understanding of the macro-economic parameters affecting socio-economic formations of Kerala. The book goes beyond economic history and examines contemporary development problems that affect conditions of the working class in India's most successful state in a human development index.
- Vibhuti Patel (Pacific Affairs)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Ithaca
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8014-8624-1 (9780801486241)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Patrick Heller
The Labor of Development
Workers and the Transformation of Capitalism in Kerala, India
E-Book
10/2018
1st Edition
Cornell University Press
€162.99
Available for download
Person
Patrick Heller is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.