IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v137y2021ics0305750x2030334x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Kerala model in the time of COVID19: Rethinking state, society and democracy

Author

Listed:
  • Chathukulam, Jos
  • Tharamangalam, Joseph

Abstract

Kerala, a small state in South India, has been celebrated as a development model by scholars across the world for its exemplary achievements in human development and poverty reduction despite relatively low GDP growth. It was no surprise, then, that the Covid 19 pandemic that hit Kerala before any other part of India, became a test case for the Kerala model in dealing with such a crisis. Kerala was lauded across the world once again as a success story in containing this unprecedented pandemic, in treating those infected, and in making needed provisions for those adversely affected by the lockdown. But as it turned out, this celebration was premature as Kerala soon faced a third wave of Covid 19 infections. The objective of this paper is to examine Kerala’s trajectory in achieving the success and then confronting the unanticipated reversal. It will examine the legacy of the Kerala model such as robust and decentralized institutions and provisions for healthcare, welfare and safety nets, and especially the capacity of a democratic state working in synergy with civil society and enjoying a high degree of consensus and public trust. It will then examine the new surge of the virus and attempts to establish if this was due to any mistakes made by the state or some deficits in its model of “public action” that includes adversarial politics having a disruptive tenor about it. We will conclude by arguing that the Kerala model is still relevant, and that it is still a model in motion.

Suggested Citation

  • Chathukulam, Jos & Tharamangalam, Joseph, 2021. "The Kerala model in the time of COVID19: Rethinking state, society and democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:137:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x2030334x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030334X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105207?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy J. Lee & Ji-Sook Han & Tae-Gyou Ko, 2020. "Health-Oriented Tourists and Sustainable Domestic Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Dreze, Jean & Sen, Amartya, 2002. "India: Development and Participation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199257492.
    3. K.P. Kannan, 1995. "Public Intervention and Poverty Alleviation: A Study of the Declining Incidence of Rural Poverty in Kerala, India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(4), pages 701-728, October.
    4. Gathmann, Christina & Huttunen, Kristiina & Jenström, Laura & Saaksvuori, Lauri & Stitzing, Robin, 2020. "Job Loss and Health Spillovers in the Family," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224634, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Heller, Patrick, 1996. "Social capital as a product of class mobilization and state intervention: Industrial workers in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1055-1071, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kaveri Medappa, 2023. "Rethinking Mutual Aid Through the Lens of Social Reproduction: How Platform Drivers Ride Out Work and Life in Bengaluru, India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 18(3), pages 383-408, December.
    2. Rekha Wazir, 2023. "Social Norm Change, Behavioural Approaches and the Politics of Knowledge: A Conversation between the Ivory Tower and the Field," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(1), pages 3-30, January.
    3. Remya Tressa Jacob & Rudra Sensarma, 2022. "Does knowledge empower? A story of debt literacy and credit usage in rural consumer finance," Working papers 529, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    4. Wang, Zankai & Le, Thanh Tiep, 2022. "The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on SMEs and travel agencies: The critical role of corporate social responsibility," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 46-58.
    5. repec:spr:epolit:v:39:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s40888-021-00249-1 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Justino, Patricia, 2006. "The impact of collective action on economic development: empirical evidence from Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1254-1270, July.
    2. Singh, Prerna, 2011. "We-ness and Welfare: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social Development in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 282-293, February.
    3. Angus Deaton & Jean Dreze, 2008. "Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations," Working Papers 1071, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    4. Levien, Michael, 2015. "Social Capital as Obstacle to Development: Brokering Land, Norms, and Trust in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 77-92.
    5. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Characteristics of social policies and social trust," MPRA Paper 96517, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Sripad Motiram & Lars Osberg, 2010. "Gender Inequalities in Tasks and Instruction Opportunities within Indian Families," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 141-167.
    7. Vizard, Polly, 2005. "The contributions of Professor Amartya Sen in the field of human rights," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6273, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Asimina Christoforou, 2005. "On the Determinants of Social Capital in Greece Compared to Countries of the European Union," Working Papers 2005.68, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Kristian Alm & David S. A. Guttormsen, 2023. "Enabling the Voices of Marginalized Groups of People in Theoretical Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 303-320, January.
    10. Clots-Figueras, Irma, 2011. "Women in politics: Evidence from the Indian States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 664-690, August.
    11. Lionel Kesztenbaum & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2014. "Income versus Sanitation; Mortality Decline in Paris, 1880-1914," PSE Working Papers halshs-01018594, HAL.
    12. repec:kqi:journl:2018-2-1-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Lopez-Rodriguez, Patricia & De la Torre Garcia, Rodolfo, 2000. "Closing the gap: the link between social capital and microfinance services," MPRA Paper 22974, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2009.
    14. Gulati, Namrata & Ray, Tridip, 2016. "Inequality, neighbourhoods and welfare of the poor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 214-228.
    15. Cassan, Guilhem, 2019. "Affirmative action, education and gender: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 51-70.
    16. Teresa Bago d'Uva & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O'Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2011. "Education‐related inequity in healthcare with heterogeneous reporting of health," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 174(3), pages 639-664, July.
    17. Oyvat, Cem & Tekgüç, Hasan, 2019. "Ethnic fractionalization, conflict and educational development in Turkey," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 41-52.
    18. Prabir C. Bhattacharya, 2006. "Economic Development, Gender Inequality, and Demographic Outcomes: Evidence from India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 32(2), pages 263-292, June.
    19. M.A. Oommen, 2018. "Deepening Decentralised Governance in Rural India: Lessons from the People’s Plan Initiative of Kerala," Working Papers id:12519, eSocialSciences.
    20. Sandeep Sharma & Dora Marinova & Diana Bogueva, 2020. "Transitioning to Better Primary Education: The Role of an Expatriate Organisation in India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-21, August.
    21. Sunit Singh & Rama Charan Tripathi, 2010. "Why Do the Bonded Fear Freedom?," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 22(2), pages 249-297, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:137:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x2030334x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.