This article examines the local socio-political causes behind a sudden wave of starvation deaths that swept across the West Bengali village of Amlashol during the summer of 2004. Following the new paradigm of famine analysis where focus is placed on political failures, the article addresses...

Expansion of women’s political space is a means toward empowering women typically identified in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers of less developed countries. Calls for the cultivation of women leaders in turn correspond with attempts to facilitate this expansion. Focusing on...

Kerala is often praised as being more developed, in some respects, than the rest of India: several development indicators, such as literacy rates and health, suggest that Kerala is much more successful than the rest of India. However, a growing minority of observers have expressed disappointment...

The state of Tamil Nadu, located in South India, has been identified as a state with gender equality as is evident from a balanced sex ratio, higher age of marriage of women, lower fertility rates and higher female literacy. Using district level and village/town level data from Census 2001, we...

The small and medium enterprise sector plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic development and growth of countries. But there is evidence that the firms in this sector are less efficient than those in the large enterprise sector. It is therefore imperative to examine their efficiency levels...