DEVELOPMENT AND DEPRIVATION: Study of Gujarat

Book Details

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Author: Ghanshyam Shah, Mario Rutten, Hein Streefkerk (Eds.)

• Language: English

• Edition: 2023

• ISBN: 9788131613054

• Pages: 346

• Cover: Hardcover

About the Book

This powerful and multidisciplinary volume presents a compelling exploration of the social and economic realities of modern-day Gujarat, one of India’s most industrialised states. Despite Gujarat’s rapid industrial and agricultural development, the benefits have not been evenly distributed. A widening divide has emerged between the affluent middle class and the underrepresented labouring communities—Dalits, tribals, landless agricultural workers, and industrial labourers—whose contributions to the state's growth remain undervalued.

Conceived as a festschrift to honour the influential sociologist Jan Breman, this book brings together 16 original essays that critically analyze the contradictions of capitalist growth in Gujarat. The volume reflects Professor Breman’s lifelong scholarship on labour and inequality in the region, covering major themes such as labour relations, the dynamics of rural and urban workforces, socio-economic deprivations, subaltern resistance movements, and both internal and international migration patterns.

Divided into four thematic sections—Introduction, Labour Relations, Encroachments and Assertions, and Migration—the essays offer deep insights into topics like the changing roles of artisans, casualisation of labour, Adivasi struggles, Dalit movements for dignity, and the global diaspora of Patidars. Each chapter contributes to a nuanced understanding of the paradoxes of development, making this a valuable academic resource.

This book is a must-read for students, scholars, and professionals in sociology, social anthropology, political science, labour studies, and development economics. It also appeals to anyone interested in the complexities and contradictions of Gujarat’s social fabric in the context of its economic rise.