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In the small body of literature dealing with the relationship between educational reform and politics, the dominant approach is one inspired by formal political economy. Considered otherwise significant in the real world, the role of politics in the policy process, is missed out in this analysis. Viewed at best as an impediment, the role of the `political` is limited to understanding cases of failed reforms.
The author investigates the role of politics in contemporary educational policy reforms in India. Comparing school policy reforms in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar (from 1994 to 2012), her work provides a unique analysis of why Indian states are at varying levels of human development despite two decades of federally sponsored policy reforms. Substantiating her arguments with qualitative fieldwork, survey, and statistics, she gives a local view of how teacher unions work, and decentralization and other reforms unfold on the ground, close to the lives of the poor for whom this change is intended.
Her insights into the day-to-day conditions of policy implementation enrich our understanding of locally embedded power relations, without necessarily romanticizing the local.
ISBN - 9780198098874
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Pages : 332
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