Social Development and the Empowerment of Marginalised Groups: Perspectives and Strategies

This book provides a critique of the emergent social development discourse, and analyses the processes and strategies of empowerment of marginalised groups in the context of: * globalisation * paradigm shift in the strategy of development * initiatives taken by the state and civil society * the dynamics of social movements and grass roots mobilisations Twelve interrelated essays establish the crucial relationship between theory and practice of social development and empowerment with the help of illustrations and case studies. This relationship embeds state-mediated policies and voluntary sector initiatives on the one hand, and the realities of people's struggles on the other.

Table of Contents:
Introduction On the Concept of Empowerment - Manoranjan Mohanty Marginalization and Social Developments - David Cox A Focus on the Significance of Globalization, the State and Social Movement Towards an Alternative Paradigm of Development - Jagannath Pathy Empowerment of the Marginalized Groups - Ramashray Roy Meaning for an Alternative Strategy Empowerment of Marginalized Groups - Debal K Singharoy Critical Issues of Grassroots Mobilization and Collective Action Workers′ Cooperatives and Empowerment of the Marginalized - Sharit K Bhowik Rethinking Social Development with Women - Kumud Sharma An Arduous Journey Ahead Peasant Women Organize for Empowerment - Vina Mazumdar The Bankura Experiment Voluntary Action for Social Development and Empowerment of Marginalized Groups in Bihar - Sachchidananda Empowerment of Tribes - Virginious Xaxa Distance Education for Empowerment Case of Human Rights Education in IGNOU

About the Author :
Debal K. SinghaRoy, MA, MPhil, PhD, is Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He is a recipient of the Australian Government Endeavour Fellowship, 2010, at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, and the Commonwealth Fellowship at The Open University, the United Kingdom (2006–07). Furthermore, he is a fellow with the Alternative Development Studies Programme, Netherlands (2003); a visiting research fellow at the University of Alberta, Canada (2001); and a visiting scholar at the la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris (1999 and 2007). His academically acclaimed publications include Towards Knowledge Society: New Identitiesin Emerging India, Peasant Movementsin Post-ColonialIndia: Dynamics of Mobilization and Identity, Social Development and the Empowerment of the Marginalised Groups: Perspectives and Strategies (ed.), Women, New Technology and Development: Changing Nature of Gender Relations in Rural India, Women in Peasant Movements: Tebhaga, Naxalite and After, Social Movements: A Course Guide, Dissenting Voices and Transformative Actions: Social Movements in Globalizing World (ed.), Interrogating Social Development: Global Perspectives and Local Initiatives (ed.) and Surviving Against Odds: Marginalized in a Globalising World (ed.). Professor SinghaRoy has published several research papers in nationally and internationally reputed journals and contributed chapters on ‘Social Movements in India’ and ‘Peasant Movements’ in the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, 2013