The Land Question and the Mobility of the Marginalized

A Study of Land Inequality in Kerala

Bibliographic Data

ID5672827
AuthorsC R Yadu (0000-0002-2879-9788, Centre For Development Studies, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume4
Issue3
Pages327-370
Publication date2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgrarian South Journal of Political Economy A triannual Journal of Agrarian South Network and CARES (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2277-9760 • E-ISSN: 2321-0281
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2277976016637990
OpenAlexW2405756720
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited12

Kerala's widely acclaimed land reform failed to yield social equality. This article analyzes Kerala's land question from the perspective of social equity and shows that even after the much touted land reform, land inequality in the state stands very high, whether measured in terms of overall distribution inequality or social inequality. The land reform, along with other factors, resulted in the preponderance of small and marginal holdings. In the social front, the marginalized communities still stand at the bottom of land ownership. The persisting inequality in land ownership has significant stakes in the upward mobility of the marginalized groups. The study reveals that land ownership is an important variable affecting the educational level of households and that land reform in the state widened the opportunities for occupational mobility among the marginalized groups

Agriculture · Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Inequality · Land reform · Land tenure · Political science · Social inequality · Social mobility · Social science · Sociology · Social and Economic Development in India · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies