How Solidarity Works for Welfare
Subnationalism and Social Development in India

This book develops an argument for the power of collective identity as an impetus for state prioritization of social welfare.

Prerna Singh (Author)

9781107070059, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 January 2016

332 pages, 21 b/w illus. 28 tables
23.7 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.67 kg

'Singh provides an original contribution to our understanding of what explains variations in social development across states in India. She emphasises the role of political factors as shaped by the way challenger elites in Kerala and Tamil Nadu bound by a shared subnationalism aggressively followed social policies for the common good. The research is meticulously undertaken and historically informed. For any future scholar of comparative politics in India, Singh sets a high bar to reach, and her monograph will have a lasting positive effect on political science scholarship on India.' Kunal Sen, The Journal of Development Studies

Why are some places in the world characterized by better social service provision and welfare outcomes than others? In a world in which millions of people, particularly in developing countries, continue to lead lives plagued by illiteracy and ill-health, understanding the conditions that promote social welfare is of critical importance to political scientists and policy makers alike. Drawing on a multi-method study, from the late-nineteenth century to the present, of the stark variations in educational and health outcomes within a large, federal, multiethnic developing country - India - this book develops an argument for the power of collective identity as an impetus for state prioritization of social welfare. Such an argument not only marks an important break from the dominant negative perceptions of identity politics but also presents a novel theoretical framework to understand welfare provision.

List of figures and tables
Acknowledgments
1. Subnationalism and social development: an introduction
2. How solidarity works for welfare: the subnationalist motivation for social development
3. The origins of the differential strength of subnationalism
4. How subnationalism promotes social development
5. How absence of subnationalism impedes social development
6. Subnationalism and social development across Indian states
7. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Nationalism [JPFN], Politics & government [JP]