Rethinking development economics

To achieve as much as Kerala has done for a population of its size is no mean record in world history". This pregnant observation of Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze has been widely shared by scholars all the world over from USA to Japan to Australia. Even international institutions like UNDP, UNICEF and World Bank have hailed Kerala for its human development attainments which are comparable to rich countries of the world. Neither an ideal type nor a predictive construct, Kerala's development experience built on a trajectory of historical developments, social demand and public action has come to be extensively referred to as Kerala Model. It is achieved without conquest or colonialism or foreign capital or foreign aid or even rapid economic growth. Of late, the sustainability of this 'Model' has become a subject of scholarly debate, and policy concern.

In December 1996, the Institute of Social Sciences organised a four day International Conference of Kerala's Development Experience in New Delhi, to reappraise the issues of sustainability of the Kerala Model' and to draw lessons for the nation and the wider humanity enveloped by global capitalism. The papers presented in the two volumes chosen out of 150 papers presented in 12 working sessions and 5 symposia addressed several issues of Kerala's sustainability besides raising questions of significance relating to development and policy,

While Vol.I is a broad critique of the 'Kerala Model' of development, Vol.II seeks to reappraise the issues relating to the sustainbility of the model from specific sectoral perspectives, prefaced by an excellent discussion on the implications of the fertility decline and demographic transition of the State. The two volumes containing contributions by eminent scholars undoubtedly will make a rich addition to the theory and practice of which has been undergoing great rethinking in recent times.