Institutional Change and Power Asymmetry in the Context of Rural India

• Main Author: Patnaik, Amar (Author, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore : Springer Singapore : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Subjects: Public policy.; Welfare state.; Economic policy.; Public Policy.; Politics of the Welfare State.; Economic Policy.
• Physical Description: XXVII, 344 p. 31 illus. online resource.
• ISBN: 9789811313011
• DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-1301-1

This book explains how to bring about institutional change and foster new institutional structures (institution building) by resolving power inequities in a rural ecosystem in India, and advocates the identification of an appropriate institutional champion to make this happen. The book develops a power-asymmetry-based framework and argues that a champion with the right attributes and the 'ability' to 'convene' people over a social issue can only succeed if he/she can resolve or reduce the deep-rooted societal power asymmetries within that community. It also presents four case studies that indicate how such social change is typically spread over a long period of time.