
Contested Politics of Educational Reform in India
Aligning Opportunities with Interests
Manisha Priyam(Author)
OUP India (Publisher)
Published in December 2015
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-19-809887-4 (ISBN)
Description
This book analyses the role of politics in the process of social sector policy reforms in the context of developing countries. Considered significant in the real world, politics is missed out by the dominant approaches used to design or analyse the policy process. In the small body of literature available, politics is viewed in a negative way-an obstruction which leads to failure. However, if we focus also on cases of success, we find that it works in a far more nuanced and complex way. Specially, if changes are viewed 'downstream' as people experience them, the reform-politics relationship unravels as a deeply contested process.
Comparing the case of educational policy reform in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, this book finds that unintended policy consequences, building allies amongst teachers, and a preference for collaboration with unions over more conflictual approaches, may have been responsible for better outcomes in Andhra. In comparison, the stagnation in Bihar was on account of weaker policies of teacher management, and elite capture of local institutions of school decentralization. Seeing the change process, in terms of the day-to-day conditions of policy implementation, close to where poor people experience it, helps in understanding the locally embedded nature of power relations. This book engages with the big world or power without necessarily romanticizing the local, or ignoring that leaders may indeed be pursuing political motivations while they seemingly work in the name of the poor.
Comparing the case of educational policy reform in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, this book finds that unintended policy consequences, building allies amongst teachers, and a preference for collaboration with unions over more conflictual approaches, may have been responsible for better outcomes in Andhra. In comparison, the stagnation in Bihar was on account of weaker policies of teacher management, and elite capture of local institutions of school decentralization. Seeing the change process, in terms of the day-to-day conditions of policy implementation, close to where poor people experience it, helps in understanding the locally embedded nature of power relations. This book engages with the big world or power without necessarily romanticizing the local, or ignoring that leaders may indeed be pursuing political motivations while they seemingly work in the name of the poor.
More details
Edition
UK edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Delhi
India
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
15 graphs & charts; 7 photos
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-809887-4 (9780198098874)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Manisha Priyam is ICSSR Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and teaches Political Science at Gargi College, University of Delhi.
Author
, ICSSR Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi; faculty, Political Science, Gargi College, University of Delhi
Content
List of Figures and Tables ; Preface ; List of Abbreviations ; Introduction: Understanding the 'Missing' Politics in Educational Reform ; 1. Theory and Practice of Educational Reform in India: A Review ; 2. The Context of Change: Centre Sets the Agenda ; 3. Federal Opportunities, State-level Implementation: The Puzzle of Contrasting Outcomes in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar ; 4. Reform Opponents: Do Teachers and their Unions Resist the Implementation of Change? ; 5. Reform Proponents? Contrasting Effects of Educational Decentralization and Community Participation ; 6. Politics, Schools, and the Poor: A Local View ; 7. Politics Matters: The Continuing Agenda of Educational Reform ; Research Methods Appendix ; Glossary ; Bibliography ; Index ; About the Author