Dignity through Discourse : Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies

Employing a view of culture as a communicative phenomenon involving discursive engagement, which is deeply influenced by social and economic inequalities, the authors argue that the struggle to break free of poverty is as much a cultural process as...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Rao, Vijayendra, Sanyal, Paromita
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACTIVISM ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AGRICULTURAL WAGE ALLEGIANCE ANCESTRAL ANTI-POVERTY ART BASIC BELIEFS CANDIDATES CHILDBEARING CITIZEN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT CITIZENS CITIZENSHIP CIVIC PARTICIPATION CIVIL SOCIETY CLEAN WATER COERCION COMMON PROPERTY CONFLICT CONSTITUENCIES CULTURAL CONTEXT CULTURAL LIFE CULTURAL PRACTICE CULTURE OF DEPENDENCY DATA COLLECTION DECISION-MAKING DELIVERY COSTS DEMOCRACIES DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC POLITICS DEMOCRATIC STATE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISABILITY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS DISCRIMINATION DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC STATUS ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION ELECTIONS ELITES EQUAL RIGHTS EQUAL TREATMENT EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HUMAN BEINGS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN POPULATIONS ILLITERACY INDIVIDUAL NEEDS INTELLECTUAL HISTORY INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT KINSHIP LAND OWNERSHIP LAND REFORM LAND REFORMS LANDLESS PEOPLE LEARNING LITERATURE MARGINAL GROUPS MEDIA NATIONAL LEGISLATION PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY PERSISTENT POVERTY PHILOSOPHY PHONES PLURALISM POLICY ISSUES POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY RESPONSE POLITICAL COALITIONS POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT POLITICAL PARTICIPATION POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL POWER POLITICAL THEORISTS POLLUTION POOR POOR COMMUNITIES POOR FAMILIES POOR PEOPLE POOR POLICY POVERTY LINE POVERTY PROGRAMS POVERTY STATUS PROGRESS PUBLIC ARENA PUBLIC AWARENESS PUBLIC DISCOURSE PUBLIC DISCUSSION PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PUBLIC GOOD PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC SPHERE PUBLISHING RECIPROCITY RESOURCE ALLOCATION RITUALS RURAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL LIFE RURAL MEN RURAL RESIDENTS SANITATION SANITATION FACILITIES SOCIAL CAPITAL SOCIAL INEQUALITY SOCIAL NORMS SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL STRUCTURE STONE TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS TRADITION TRADITIONAL CULTURES UNEMPLOYMENT VERNACULAR STYLE VICIOUS CYCLE VILLAGE COUNCILS VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT WOMAN
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090505113505 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4119

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Summary:	Employing a view of culture as a communicative phenomenon involving discursive engagement, which is deeply influenced by social and economic inequalities, the authors argue that the struggle to break free of poverty is as much a cultural process as it is political and economic. In this paper, they analyze important examples of discursive spaces - public meetings in Indian village democracies (gram sabhas), where villagers make important decisions about budgetary allocations for village development and the selection of beneficiaries for anti-poverty programs. They examine 290 transcripts of gram sabhas from South India to demonstrate how they create a culture of civic/political engagement among poor people, and how definitions of poverty and beneficiary-selection criteria are understood and interrogated within them. Through this examination, they highlight the process by which gram sabhas facilitate the acquisition of crucial cultural capabilities such as discursive skills and civic agency by poor and disadvantaged groups. They illustrate how the poor and socially marginalized deploy these discursive skills in a resource-scarce and socially stratified environment in making material and non-material demands in their search for dignity. The intersection of poverty, culture, and deliberative democracy is a topic of broad relevance because it sheds light on cultural processes that can be influenced by public action in a manner that helps improve the voice and agency of the poor.

Dignity through Discourse : Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies

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