Labor, Democratization and Development in India and Pakistan

“The overall argument is that only rights-based organized labor unions can allow “the transformation of wealth into well-being”. Unionism can hence sustain democratization by promoting the redistribution of wealth created through the process of capitalist accumulation. This analysis is welcome as it fills two important gaps in the study of the political economy of development and democracy in South Asia. First, it is one of the very few studies to directly address the issue of organized labor in South Asia. Second, it is an important addition to the rather neglected field of comparative studies between India and Pakistan. Moreover, Christopher Candland must be credited for putting forward a comprehensive understanding of development as a process not limited to economic growth but that includes a continuous improvement of the quality of life of the people, especially the poor, and of democracy, as more than just a set of political institutions and mechanisms, but as a system of governance that ought to deliver on social and economic rights and development in the broadest sense. Finally, he is cautious not to presuppose a causal link between democracy and development while acknowledging that an indirect and somewhat more complex link does exist.”

from Lionel Baixas “Christopher Candland, Labor, Democratization and Development in India and Pakistan,” South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, 2008.