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Kerala: Radical Reform as Development in an Indian State
CONTENTS
1 Introduction to the 1994 edition i
Kerala's continuing success i
Food iv
Nutrition v
Health v
The Kerala morbidity paradox vi
Kerala's low birth rate vii
Helping workers vii
Female infanticide, son preference, and violence ix
Son preference in Kerala x
Dowry and dowry deaths x
The Gulf war and the Kerala remittances debate xi
Ayodhya: caste and religious violence xiii
The New Democratic Initiatives--A new Kerala model? xiv
The total literacy campaign xv
High efficiency stoves: an environmental campaign xvi
From word literacy to land literacy: the People's
Resource Mapping Programme xvii
Recession or restructuring? xviii
Anarchy or sustainable development? xx
2 The land of coconuts 3
An overview of Kerala's history 5
Kerala's radical politics and mobilization of
peasants and workers 7
3 Kerala's achievements 10
Kerala in the development debate 14
The redistribution debate 18
Kerala's special political circumstances 20
What is redistribution? 21
4 Behind Kerala's success 22
Kerala's special ecology: equal regional
distribution of resources 22
Kerala's history: trade and communication 23
Colonial capitalism and Kerala's unique
working class 25
Kerala's committed cadres 26
5 Food for all 28
School and nursery lunches 28
The ration shops 29
How well nourished are Kerala's people? 32
6 Health 37
Public health programs in Kerala 37
Health care 41
Kerala's low birth rate 43
Popular struggles and health care 45
7 Education 47
Education in Kerala: a historical overview 48
Education and popular struggles 50
Effects of education in Kerala 53
8 Land reform 54
Redistribution of rice land 55
Distribution of house-compound land 57
Effects of the land reform 58
Popular struggles for land reform 59
9 Helping workers 64
The Kerala Agricultural Workers' Act of 1974 65
Pensions 65
Unemployment: Kerala's most visible failure 67
Underemployment in agriculture 69
10 Overcoming caste 71
India's caste system 71
Caste in Kerala 75
Popular movements against caste discrimination 76
Stages in the caste struggle 77
Jobs and dignity: the continuing struggle 81
Caste violence: Kerala's unique profile 83
11 Women and the Kerala reforms 86
Women and development 86
Kerala's achievements for women 87
Female unemployment and underemployment 89
Women and property: Kerala's complex history 90
Violence against women: Kerala's uncertain record 95
Women and political power 96
12 Lessons from Kerala 98
Notes 106
Notes to the introduction 113
Bibliography 117
Videos about Kerala 134
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