Kalaiyarasan A. - The Dravidian Model: Interpreting the Political Economy of Tamil Nadu

ADVANCE PRAISE

TheDravidian Model makes a compelling case for a development strategy powered by populist mobilization around regional cultural identity. Tamil Nadu, the authors argue, has created more effective institutions and delivered better outcomes on food, health, education and poverty reduction than other Indian states. This strategy has emphasised status inequalities of caste and gender rather than income inequalities with remarkable success. This book needs to be read and discussed.

Partha Chatterjee,Columbia University Adopting a neo-Gramscian approach, Kalaiyarasan and Vijayabaskar have developed an original take on Tamil Nadus economy, society and politics. With detailed attention to achievements in human development, structural economic change and accumulation, they reveal the ideas, politics and institutions distinguishing social populism from economic populism. Through both kinds of Dravidian left populism, countervailing power has been built and aspirations against entrenched inequalities have been simultaneously mobilised. The state is central to their co-ordination, continuities, relative success and limitations. This book is sure to generate the conversation the authors seek about the struggle for social justice that is now so urgently needed.

Barbara Harriss-White,Oxford UniversityThe Dravidian Model breaks new ground, not only in making sense of Tamil Nadus political economy but also in advancing our understanding of the possibilities for socially and economically inclusive development in the postcolonial world. The book exhaustively documents and explains the historical and cultural roots of Tamil Nadus opportunity-equalizing politics and carves out new theoretical frontiers in the debate on left populism. This should be required reading for all those interested in the democratic possibilities of transforming deeply unequal societies.

Patrick Heller,Brown University

TheDravidian Model offers the most convincing explanation of the unmatchable level of development that south India has reached, compared to the rest of the

sub-continent. It shows that political mobilization resulting in social change and less inequalities, makes redistribution more natural. And this process prepares the ground for real developmentin terms of education and health, for instance

because of a certain democratization of growth. By contrast, Kalaiyarasan A.

and M. Vijayabaskar expose those who claim that the economic trajectory of western Indian states are success storiesthey are models of growth without development when the Dravidian model offers growth with development!

Christophe Jaffrelot,CERI-Sciences Po The Dravidian movement has been studied extensively for its ideology and political mobilization. But its impact on social development and economic growth has rarely been subjected to such meticulous scrutiny. Of special importance here is the analysis of how the Dravidian movement brought lower castes into the entrepreneurial sphere, lifting Tamil Nadu not only socially but also economically. A compelling and much needed analysis.

Ashutosh Varshney,Brown University

THE DRAVIDIAN MODEL

The Dravidian Model adds to the growing literature on the dynamics of subnational development in the Global South by mapping the politics and processes contributing to the development trajectory of Tamil Nadu, south India. The book foregrounds the role of populist mobilisation against caste-based inequalities in shaping this development.

Subnational variations in economic and social outcomes across India, one of the fastest growing economies, continue to pose conceptual and policy challenges.

States that do well on the growth front lag in human development, while human development in a few other states has not been accompanied by sustained growth in productive sectors. Tamil Nadu bucks this trend and has managed to combine relatively high levels of growth and sustained productive capacities with human development. Drawing upon fresh data, literature, policy documents and primary fieldwork, this book seeks to explain the social and economic development of Tamil Nadu in terms of populist mobilisation against caste-based inequalities.

Dominant policy narratives on inclusive growth assume a sequential logic whereby returns to growth are used to invest in socially inclusive policies. By focusing more on redistribution of access to opportunities in the modern economy, the state has sustained a relatively more inclusive and dynamic growth process.

Democratisation of economic opportunities has made such broad-based growth possible even as interventions in social sectors reinforce the former.

The book thus also speaks to the nascent literature on the relationship between the logic of modernisation and status-based inequalities in the Global South.

Importantly, it contributes to the growing literature on how regional politics and political regimes shape global development trajectories.

Kalaiyarasan A. is FulbrightNehru post-doctoral fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs in Brown University and Assistant Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. His academic interest lies in the intersection of caste and economic processes in India.

Vijayabaskar M. is Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai. His research centres on the political economy of development with a focus on labour and land markets, industrial dynamics and ruralurban transformations.

THE DRAVIDIAN MODEL

Interpreting the Political Economy of

Global Value Chains

and Tamil Nadu

Development

Redefining the Contours of

21st Century Capitalism

KALAIYARASAN A.

VIJAYABASKAR M.

Gary Gereffi

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Kalaiyarasan A. and Vijayabaskar M. 2021

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First published 2021

Printed in India

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British LibraryLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kalaiyarasan, A., author. | Vijayabaskar, M., author.

Title: The Dravidian model : interpreting the political economy of Tamil Nadu /

Kalaiyarasan A. and Vijayabaskar M.

Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021005359 (print) | LCCN 2021005360 (ebook) |

ISBN 9781108844130 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108933506 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Dravidian movementIndiaTamil Nadu. | Tamil Nadu (India)

Economic conditions21st century. | Tamil Nadu (India)Social conditions

21st century. | Tamil Nadu (India)Politics and government21st century.