The perils of social development without economic growth: The development debacle of Kerala, India

Abstract

A number of influential experts in the field of international development regard Kerala as a unique model of development because it has been able to achieve exceptional social development in such areas as health, education, and even the demographic transition, despite low economic development and low per capita income. Inverting the model, however, we find that in sharp contrast to the experience of the high-growth economies of Asia, social development in Kerala has been accompanied by economic stagnation, if not deceleration in growth. This paper explores the social, political, and cultural roots of this paradox and suggests that economic stagnation can be seen to be inherent in the very pattern of Kerala's social, political, and cultural development. In particular, it draws attention to (1) a pattern of state, politics, and society that may have undermined the autonomy and rationality of institutions of civil society, and (2) a pattern of political and cultural discourse that may have undermined the basis of innovation, at least in certain domains of society and culture.