Kerala is one of India’s most successful states, but I am not talking about income. This state has been the most effective at combating poverty since India’s independence in 1947. From a glance statistics about Kerala seems to almost be a mistake. Across the world we view per capita income as a staple statistic for judging the state of poverty in a state, region, or nation; however, Kerala had a life expectancy of 72 years old, an infant mortality rate of 13, and an astronomically high literacy rate of 91% in the late 1990s (Veron, 2001). How could it be that a state in India has such high social indicators while also having very low, most cases below India’s average, economic indicators?
When you examine Kerala’s political structure and history is that it has been dominated by the presence of the Communist Party of India; but, this is not your typical version of communism that was seen in Russia, China, and Cuba. This party was democratically elected and has held its power on and off through the decades peacefully and with support of the people of Kerala. The party’s main goal has been to eradicate poverty and class warfare. The very anti-imperialist ideology and lack of pro-industrialization has kept most economic developments out of Kerala until the 1990s when India as a whole began to open up economically. Still with-out industrialization Kerala by the 1990s was the fore runner of social development and standard of living in India. The work of the Communist Party of India helped to propel the social reform and provided the framework for the development model seen in Kerala. Though the achievements seen in Kerala can be partially attributed to the involvement of the Communist Party the participation of Kerala’s population in civil society plays an arguably bigger role in the achievements in social reform. By pressuring their elected officials to tackle these challenges and holding them accountable with very high voter participation rates of upwards of 70% (Veron, 2001). These two variables combined are the reason Kerala has had such success at tackling these social issues up until the 1990s.
After the economic reforms of 1991 Kerala’s government began to feel the pressure from outside to open up economically and industrialize. Instead of pushing large scale industrialization that would harm the environment, Kerala’s government upon the push of the national government began to decentralize power away from the state government down to the community level. They began projects that supported existing and created new community based management systems that ranged from conservation to local economic development. These community based political systems encourages participation in developmental planning (Veron, 2001). This gave the people the power to be the driving force behind development and also helped to minimize damage to common pool resources e.g. watersheds (Veron, 2001). These planning committees are committed to solving problems on the local level to ensure social, economic, and environmental sustainable outcomes while at the same time creating an environment for civil society to flourish.
After using Kerala as a case study for an alternative development model it is hard to understand why major development plans for the developed world is usually solely based on the western path to development. The current push from organizations like the World Bank to develop the Global South with the same tactics and mold as the western nations can not be sustainable or effective since it ignores the strengths and weaknesses of different regions. It almost seems like a form of neo-imperialism to force our model of development on countries while also violating fundamental concepts of self determination and sovereignty. We should begin to incorporate fundamentals of democracy into development by bring citizens to the table to plan and form the best path that fits their community, region, state, and nation. Through this process the outcome is more likely to be successful because it is a plan that was created by the people not an outside body. In places like Afghanistan where development is being dictated to them it would be interesting to see how development would look to the average Afghan citizen. The international community, including nation-states, IGOs, and NGOs, needs to end the strategy of a one size fits all approach to development because it does not support democracy and is a form of neo-imperialism
The Kerala model for development is a testament to the rest of the world that there is another path out there besides the western way. Community management in many social systems provides an environment that fosters sustainable development and civil society. Development should fit the region that it is being applied in and can be an aid to democracy by providing pathways for citizens to be active in government if done through community planning. The benefits for allowing a nation or a state in this case to determine its own path toward development far outweigh the perceived benefits of forcing them through a process of industrialization.
Veron, R. (2001). The "new" kerala model: lessons for sustainable development. World Development, 29(4), 601-617.
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