The Labor of Development: Workers and the Transformation of Capitalism in Kerala, India

by Heller, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780801435904
• ISBN10: 0801435900
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr

Summary

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,

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction: Kerala in Theoretical Perspective	1	(21)
Classes and States in the Making of Development	22	(31)
Part 1. Agriculture
Tenants and Laborers in Kerala's Agrarian Transformation	53	(34)
The Institutionalization of Class Conflict in Agriculture	87	(31)
Class Compromise and the Development of Capitalist Agriculture	118	(39)
Part 2. Industry	157	(80)
Mobilization and Transformation in Industry	160	(23)
Crisis and Compromise in the Unorganized Sector	183	(24)
Accumulationist Strategies: The Decline of Militancy in the Organized Factory Sector	207	(30)
Conclusion: The Democratic Developmental State	237	(12)
Works Cited	249	(20)
Index	269