Anirudh Krishna

Moving from the Stock of Social Capital to the Flow of Benefits: The Role of Agency

Abstract Comparing results for 60 villages in Rajasthan, India, it is seen that having a high level of social capital does not always help to achieve high development performance. Stocks of social capital need to be drawn upon actively, and capable agency is necessary in addition to high social capital. Locally relevant scales of development performance and social capital are devised for making this comparison. Variables corresponding to other bodies of explanation, including extent of commercialization, relative stratification, and relative need are also examined, but a combination of high social capital and capable agency is found to be associated most closely with high development performance.

Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor in 20 Kenyan Villages

Three hundred and sixteen households in 20 western Kenyan villages — 19% of all households in these villages — managed successfully to escape from poverty in the past 25 years. However, another 325 households (i.e. 19% of all households of these villages) fell into abiding poverty in the same period. Different causes are associated with households falling into poverty and those overcoming poverty. Separate policies will be required consequently to prevent descent and to promote escape in future. Results from these 20 Kenyan villages are compared with results obtained earlier from a similar inquiry conducted in 35 villages of Rajasthan, India. Some remarkable similarities are found, but also several important differences.

Escaping poverty and becoming poor in 36 villages of Central and Western Uganda

Abstract Twenty-four per cent of households in 36 village communities of Central and Western Uganda have escaped from poverty over the past 25 years, but another 15 per cent have simultaneously fallen into poverty. A roughly equal number of households escaped from poverty in the first period (ten to 25 years ago) as in the second period (the last ten years) examined here. However, almost twice as many households fell into poverty during the second period as in the first period. Progress in poverty reduction has slowed down as a result. Multiple causes are associated with descent into poverty and these causes vary significantly between villages in the two different regions. For nearly two-thirds of all households in both regions, however, ill health and health-related costs were a principal reason for descent into poverty. Escaping poverty is also associated with diverse causes, which vary across the two regions. Compared to increases in urban employment, however, land-related reasons have been more important for escaping poverty in both regions.

Why growth is not enough: Household poverty dynamics in Northeast Gujarat, India

Despite high growth rates in Gujarat, exceeding 9 per cent per year over the decade of the 1990s, poverty in 36 villages located in the northeastern part of this state has changed hardly at all. In these villages, 9.5 per cent of households escaped from poverty over the past 25 years, but 6.3 per cent of households became poor at the same time. Escape and descent are not symmetric: different reasons account for escaping poverty than those for declining into poverty. Growth alone is hardly sufficient to achieve poverty reduction on any significant scale. Public policies will be needed to address directly the separate causes for descent into poverty.

What Is Happening to Caste? A View from Some North Indian Villages

The role of caste in indian politics is undergoing considerable change. Caste and patron-client links have been regarded traditionally as the building blocks of political organization in India (Brass 1994; Manor 1997; Migdal 1988; Kothari 1988; Weiner 1967), and vertical and horizontal mobilizations by patrons and caste leaders, respectively, have been important influences on political outcomes (Rudolph and Rudolph 1967). There are indications, however, that the influence of patronage and caste might have declined considerably in recent years: [National-level] survey data reveal some important facts that run counter to the conventional wisdom on voter behavior. … In 1996, 75 percent of the sample said they were not guided by anyone in their voting decision. … Of the 25 percent who sought advice, only 7 percent sought it from caste and community leaders … that is, less than 2 percent of the electorate got direct advice on how to vote from caste and community leaders . … The most important survey data show the change over time. In 1971, 51 percent of the respondents agreed that it was “important to vote the way your caste/community does” (30 percent disagreed), but in 1996 the percentages were reversed: 51 percent disagreed with that statement (29 percent agreed). … In 1998, “caste and community” was seen as an issue by only 5.5 percent of the respondents in one poll … and [it] ranked last of nine issues in another. All the evidence points to the fact that these respondents are correct: members of particular castes … can be found voting for every party. … It is less and less true that knowing the caste of a voter lets you reliably predict the party he or she will vote for. (Oldenburg 1999, 13–15, emphasis in original)

Subjective Assessments, Participatory Methods and Poverty Dynamics: The Stages-of-Progress Method

The Stages-of-Progress methodology helps examine households’ movements out of poverty and into poverty. More important, it helps uncover the reasons responsible for these movements, thereby feeding directly into policy formulation. I present the steps in this methodology, discussing briefly some results from applications carried out with colleagues in 236 diverse communities of India, Kenya, Uganda, Peru and North Carolina, USA, examining the pathways traversed by a total of more than 25,000 households. Next, I discuss how reliably this recall-based, participatory and community-driven methodology works in practice. Strengths and weaknesses of the method are examined in conclusion.

Poverty, participation, and democracy : a global perspective

1. Introduction: poor people and democracy Arnirudh Krishna 2. Poor people and democratic citizenship in Africa Michael Bratton 3. Do poor people care less for democracy? Testing individual-level assumptions with individual-level data from India Anirudh Krishna 4. Inequality and democracy in Latin America: individual and contextual effects of wealth on political participation John A. Booth and Mitchell A. Seligson 5. The poor and the viability of democracy Adam Przeworski 6. Conclusion: implications for policy and research Anirudh Krishna and John A. Booth.

Stuck in Place: Investigating Social Mobility in 14 Bangalore Slums

This study of 14 Bangalore slum communities, including detailed interviews with 1,481 residents, represents an initial effort to study social mobility in Indias largest cities, where opportunity and inequality have both been rising. The results show that slum dwellers have advanced economically, but the extent of improvement is small in the majority of cases, and there are many reversals of fortune. Sons tend to follow fathers or uncles into informal and mostly low-skilled occupations. The majority have lived in slums for many generations. These restricted-entry low-exit situations are brought about in large part on account of multiple institutional disconnections.

How Much Can Asset Transfers Help the Poorest? Evaluating the Results of BRAC's Ultra-Poor Programme (2002–2008)

Abstract The impacts of an innovative programme in rural Bangladesh, which has assisted extremely poor households, literally the poorest of the poor, were assessed over a six-year period (2002–2008). The provision of a substantial dose of assets has helped produce very positive results, by and large. Vulnerability to downturns on account of negative events, such as illnesses and house damage, has resulted in asset losses for several assisted households. Additional measures that reduce vulnerability and risk will help complete the good work commenced by the asset transfer plan.

Slum types and adaptation strategies: identifying policy-relevant differences in Bangalore

An empirical analysis of the lived experiences of more than 2,000 households in different Bangalore slums shows how migration patterns, living conditions, livelihood strategies and prospects for the future vary widely across distinct types of slums that were initially identified from satellite images and studied over a 10-year period. Shocks and responses vary in nature and intensity, and coping and accumulative strategies diverge across slum types. More fine-grained policy analyses that recognize this diversity of slum types will help people deal with shocks and increase resilience more effectively.