Performing Participatory Citizenship – Politics and Power in Kerala'sKudumbashreeProgramme

Abstract

This article examines the operation of Kudumbashree, the Poverty Eradication Mission for the Indian State of Kerala. Kudumbashree operates through female-only Neighbourhood Groups, which aim to contribute to their participants' economic uplift, and to integrate them with the activities and institutions of local governance. As such, Kudumbashree echoes poverty alleviation programmes elsewhere in the Global South designed to link poverty alleviation to 'active citizenship'. This article evaluates the programme, looking in turn at its impacts on women's participation in public space, its attempts to engineer participatory citizenship through engagement with the local state, and the wider consequences of its particular linking of participation and poverty alleviation for processes of exclusion within Kerala. It argues that although the programme has undoubtedly been successful in its scale and in supporting women's public participation, questions remain over both the autonomy of the 'invited spaces' it has created, and the underlying vision of poverty alleviation it embodies.

Why Market Orientation Matters for Agriculture and Fishery Workers? Unravelling the Association between Occupational Background and Caloric Deprivation in India

“…Furthermore, it is equally important to entail a gendered-perspective for skill development. In fact, there are success stories (such as Kudumbshree, the Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission) to demonstrate that a gendered-approach towards market oriented and skilled agrarian workers can be an effective approach to enhance the income and nutritional status of households [57,58]. This also implies that the Skill India agenda should focus on mainstreaming agrarian occupations by promoting professional and technical education among those engaged in unskilled and subsistence agriculture and shery.…”

Valuing Social Capital by the Resources People Allocate to One Another

“…Inversely, it is consistently reported that social capital and the benefits it generates are undermined by an opportunistic misappropriation of resources (e.g. Nepal: Adhikari and Goldey, ; Indonesia: Silvey and Elmhirst, ; South Africa: Du Toit, ; Malai: Serra, ; Jamaica: Portes and Landolt, ; Malawi and Zambia: Vajja and White, ; Guatemala: Grant, ; Kenya: Grugerty and Kremer, ; India: Williams et al ., ; Jordan: El‐Said and Harrigan, ). The wider social capital literature stresses five elements affecting relationships in developed and developing countries alike: the scope for reciprocal benefit, institutions and the wider social environment, relative resource endowments, interpersonal networks and altruism.…”

Revisiting Sustainable Livelihoods: Insights from Implementation Studies in India

“…Studies have also drawn attention to political inteference leading to strained relationships between group members, local bodies and the mission functionaries (John, 2009;Williams et al, 2011).…”

“…A major concern especially in earlier programmes has been on the inappropriate programme design leading to faulty selection of beneficiaries, and in many cases the poorest of the poor being left behind (GoK, 2012;Srivastava, 2005;Williams et al, 2011).…”