Local Democracy and Development: People's campaign for decentralised planning in Kerala
by T. M. Thomas Isaac with Richard Franke; Leftword Books, August 2000, New Delhi; ISBN 81 87496 11 8; hardback; pp 359; INR 400
For those who have even a passing acquaintance with the movement for decentralised planning
in Kerala, the relative absence of mainstream media discussion on it has been a source of surprise. It is true that progressive mass move-ments or social tendencies tend to get very little space in media that are increasingly oriented towards sensationalism and quick sound-byte reaction. But this neglect by the media, and the consequent lack of greater public awareness about the Kerala plan, is of immense concern because this is surely one of the most significant democratic social experi-ments of our times. It is also an ongoing process which could serve as a source of both inspiration and optimism in these rather dark times; for this reason alone it deserves wider recognition.
Local Democracy and Development is a mid-stream account of the Kerala people's campaign for decentralised planning, co-authored by one (T.M. Thomas Isaac) who has been closely involved with the movement since its inception. It is a remarkable exercise: a combination of objective appraisal, personal involvement and honest self-criticism. And because the process it describes is at once complex and still unfolding, the book touches on practically all the issues of direct interest to those concerned with both the theory and the practice of economic democracy.