ABSTRACT
This book examines the renewed interest and commitment that countries across the world have shown in recent decades towards adopting models of decentralising, or "downsizing" the state, and moving towards more participatory models of government.
It examines systems of decentralised development such as self-managing co-operatives from a global and comparative perspective with a focus on developing countries. Drawing on examples from Kerala and a few other states in India, as well as Cuba, Bangladesh and South Africa among other countries, the book offers critical perspectives on the positive impacts of these experiments and the promises these offer for the future. It discusses the challenges of implementing these models, how well these work in coordination with the civil society and the state, issues of transparency and democratic oversight as well as corruption and capture of power due to entrenched structures of inequality. The volume analyses welfare and development models and self-management interventionsin countering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also looks at the meritsand demerits of decentralisation in countering the global socioeconomic and environmental crisis and the rise of authoritarian populism in many countries.
The book will be of interest to students and researchers of development studies, political science, business, community development, social justice as well as of co-operative management programmes. It will also appeal to students of political economy as well as development professionals, think tanks and policymakers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|86 pages
Concepts and Visions
part II|92 pages
Decentralised Governance and Development in Comparative Perspective
chapter 8|15 pages
Roles of NGOs, State and For-Profit Actors in Improving Maternal and Child Sector in Bangladesh
chapter 9|15 pages
Governance, Welfare-Based Development and COVID-19
chapter 10|14 pages
The Cure Remains a Symptom
chapter 12|16 pages
The Capacity Conundrum in Decentralisation and Local Governance
part III|40 pages
Experiments in Co-operativism, Decentralised Governance and Self-Management
chapter 14|13 pages
From Agricultural Co-operatives to Farmer Producer Companies
chapter 16|15 pages
Cuba's Experiments with Co-operativism and Solidarity Economies
part IV|8 pages
Conclusion