ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of the public sphere in creating new conditions for the growth of the private sector in education in Kerala. It investigates the reciprocal relationship between community organizations and political parties and how these agencies influenced the public policies in promoting privatization of education, specifically in the context of globalization and commercialization of the knowledge system. The chapter provides a detailed account of the evolution of the public sphere and its major constituencies. The civic engagements in the form of reforms and protest movements spearheaded by the diverse communities in the formative stages and the proactive role of the state in post-independent India were vital in creating and expanding a distinctive public sphere. The community organizations who stood for social transformation through education began to emerge as strong pressure groups in the affairs of educational policy.
