Debt in Rural South India: Fragmentation,Social Regulation and Discrimination

This micro-level study combines multivariate and qualitative analyses to highlight the fragmented nature of debt in southern Indian rural households. It finds that debt is socially regulated in the sense that social interactions shape the cost, use and access to debt. Caste, social class and location affect how individuals borrow varying amounts from distinct money providers, for varied purposes and at differing costs. Debt thus is not purely an economic but first and foremost a social transaction which inscribes debtors and creditors into local systems of hierarchies. Furthermore, we find that debt is an illustration and catalyst of broader socio-economic and political trends, namely a lack of social protection, persistent under-employment and rising consumerism. In terms of policy implications, the study highlights the ambiguities and illusions inherent to ‘financial inclusion' policies aiming to eradicate informal debt.     

Contentions and contradictions of tourism as development option: The case of Kerala,India

Although the state of Kerala in India has been regarded as a 'model of development', its achievements may be unravelling thanks to a host of internal and external problems. The government and the bureaucracy now project tourism as 'an engine of growth'--an excellent source of foreign exchange and employment--to revive the local economy. Opposition to large-scale tourism projects by environmental and labour activists is often dealt with through undemocratic means. This article points to a less than sanguine role for tourism in the local economy and the dynamics that work to exaggerate tourism's share in the economy in an emerging context of governmental failure, political crisis and interest group consolidation. Lessons are drawn to revisit the debate on tourism and development.