Kanta Murali’s Caste, Class and Capital: The Social and Political Origins of Economic Policy in India

Abstract

India is one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world, with its anticipated growth expected to surpass that of one of its peers, China, in the following years, something made possible by the government’s reform policies aimed at attracting private investment. However, despite this positive economic outlook, a great part of the Indian population remains overwhelmingly poor. How can these two realities coexist? In Caste, Class, and Capital, Kanta Murali aims to answer this question by analysing the political and social conditions that may lead to growth-oriented policies in democracies made up of largely poor electorates.