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Social movements
Social Movements Archive
Notes on social movements in India and abroad
Thanks to my engagement with campaigns working on hunger, education, corruption, health, peace and other issues, I have had an active interest in collective action and its role in the society. The following articles are based on my experience with these campaigns (mainly right to food and the right to information campaigns in India). There are also a few articles that look at literature on this subject, as well as a selection of interesting talks and documentaries.
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8 Principles for open government data & beyond
Posted on July 16, 2009 | No CommentsIn an age of digital information, how should government publish electronic data in keeping with high standards of right to information. -
Will the Unique ID project improve accountability?
Posted on July 5, 2009 | 3 CommentsImproving accountability depends on political and social initiatives, and not technological solutions. But technology can shape society and politics in limited ways. This article looks briefly at how the Unique id project can help in improving accountability of the government to people in India. -
Obituray to a great soul: T R Vishwanathan (TRV)
Posted on June 23, 2008 | 3 CommentsT R Vishwanathan was one of the founding members of the communist movement in South Arcot District I met TRV for an interview two weeks ago. Though he was unwell and very old, he insisted on speaking to me. “I may have a heart attack and pass away anyday”, he said, “if I talk to you, you may take my message to more people”. We went on to have a delightful 4-hour discussion on his legacy. I am sad to say that he has passed away last night and will be cremated today. This post offers a short snap shots... -
Jharkhand police: Enquiry or cover-up in Lalit Mehta’s murder case?
Posted on June 17, 2008 | 1 CommentA report by the Dy. Commissioner, and SP Palamu indicates that police in Palamu is not serious about pursuing Lalit Metha’s murderers One of our colleagues, Lalit Mehta, was brutally murdered in Palamu, Jharkahand recently. A sloppy report has prepared by the Deputy Commissioner and the SP, Palamu indicates that the Jharkhand police is either insincere in pursuing the murderers or actively protecting them. Lalit was in the process of organising a survey on NREGA along with Jean Dreze and a band of volunteers. Instead of pursuing the murders, the report casts aspersions on the survey team and even goes... -
Rights based approach & the Human development approach: Exploring linkages
Posted on June 1, 2008 | No CommentsThe rights based approach to development and the human development perspective have both become popular in the recent past. Despite a similar philosophical base, they were both developed in distinctly different communities and so they have different strengths and weaknesses in practice. One of the major strengths of the human development approach is that it has a lot of statistical techniques that have been developed by economists involved with the approach over many years. The rights approach always had a legal-political leaning and so it did not have the same kind of statistical tools for planning and for assessment. Rights... -
Murder of Lalit Kumar, NREGA activist in Palamu, Jharkhand
Posted on May 23, 2008 | 2 CommentsIn one of the worst cases of attack on an NREGA activist, Lalit Kumar was murdered this week in Palamu Right from the word go combating corruption in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been a major agenda of activists of the Right to Food Campaign. Needless to say, it brings activists into conflict with the vested interests that are deeply rooted in India today. This week in Palamu, a young and committed activist – Lalit Kumar – was murdered, perhaps a result of his actions to secure the poorest of people their rights. I am reproducing an... -
Food policy and social movements: Reflection on India’s Right to Food Campaign
Posted on December 1, 2007 | No CommentsThis paper was written for a book of case studies for a course on food policy in developing countries, and was meant for students interested in a career in food policy administration. Executive summary The Right to Food Campaign in India began in 2001. It was a time of absurd paradox. Even as the foodgrain stocks held by the government rose to 50 million metric tons, several parts of the country were reeling from a third consecutive year of drought. The threat of severe hunger loomed large, yet efforts to address this threat were insufficient. In April 2001 the People’s... -
Being young in a social movement
Posted on July 3, 2007 | 1 CommentYoung people contribute a lot in social movements…but what is their status in them? It looks like there is a large attrition of young people from social movements in India, and perhaps elsewhere. I guess a part of it must be for financial and professional reasons. But that is clearly not the whole story. Social movements are by nature a place for discussion and rebellion – and tend to produce a lot of misgivings within. I was with a group of wonderful people in the Right to Food Campaign. I continue to cherish my association with most of them. But... -
America’s New Deal & India’s Employment Guarantee Act
Posted on June 25, 2007 | 2 CommentsComparisons are often drawn between the New Deal in USA and the Employment Guarantee Act in India (NREGA). One programme of new deal comes close to NREGA – Civilian Conservation Corps The Government of India passed the all-important National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 2005 (for an intro click here). Whenever I mention it to my friends in USA the first question they ask me is, “is this like the new-deal”. The new deal has many similarities with NREGA, but is a much wider concept. NREGA is a programme dealing exclusively with labour-intensive, unskilled work. Employment programmes under new... -
Fighting corruption using right to information: Arvind Kejriwal’s talk
Posted on May 19, 2007 | 1 CommentGood introductory video on using right to information to combat corruption by Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal has been at the heart of an inspiring campaign to combat corruption by using the right to information. He spearheaded a campaign in Delhi along with many other groups that popularised the use of right to information. Arvind got the Magasassay for his work. The videos below contain a talk he gave on using RTI, which I think is a good introductory material for people with an interest on how it could be used, and what it means.
