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Vertical governance and corruption in urban India: The spatial segmentation of public food distribution


Author Frédéric Landy with the collaboration of Thomas François, Donatienne Ruby, Peeyush Sekhsaria
Publisher Institut Français de Pondichéry / Centre de Sciences Humaines
Year 2018
Pages 17 p.
Series CSH-IFP Working Papers n°11
Language English
Tags Social Sciences Social Change Politics

About the Book

Analysing the interrelationships between the notions of urban splintering and governance is the goal of this paper through a case study in urban India. Firstly we describe the obstacle race in which each and every poor inhabitant of Mumbai and Hyderabad has to take part in order to get subsidized food rations. The next section explains this situation by the “corruption chain”, from the shop keepers to the civil servants to the hidden brokers. All this works under a politically-based patronage system that shapes what we call “vertical governance.” As a corollary, an important spatial segmentation occurs at every scale, from the nation to the neighbourhood and the household, with evident consequences on people’s mobilisation.

Keywords

governance, urban splintering, corruption, India, slum, subsidized food distribution