Despite successful enactment of a number of institutional and policy reforms, India is struggling to translate legislative successes into effective gains for citizen groups who were meant to benefit from such reforms. Based on Prakash Kashwan’s longstanding engagement and rigorous field research around the questions of forest and land rights, he urges to revisit India’s understanding of institutional change. Instead of considering social, political, and economic context as external factors needed to be “accounted for,” Prakash argues for systematic integration of the prominent features of context in the analysis of institutional change. Such a framework of institutional change is “tested” through comparative analyses of similar reforms outside India. Lastly, engagement with theories of institutional analysis and political economy enhances the utility of these arguments for reforms beyond the questions of forest and land rights.
Prakash Kashwan is Assistant Professor of Political Science with specializations in Political Economy, and, Comparative Environmental Policy and Politics. His research focuses on the policies and politics at the intersections of the environment and development. He combines theories of institutional analysis, political economy, and power. Prakash is also an affiliated faculty member of the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University. At UConn, he is affiliated with the Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE), and the Economic and Social Rights Group (ESRG), each of which bring together faculty colleagues and students from a variety of disciplines.
Please RSVP at psamajdar@accountabilityindia.org
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