https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=A_Sixth_of_HumanityA Sixth of Humanity - Revision history2026-08-02T13:54:39ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=A_Sixth_of_Humanity&diff=483722&oldid=prevKristyThacker77 at 17:19, 5 May 20262026-05-05T17:19:55Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''''{{Italic title}}A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India's Development Odyssey''''' is a 2026 book on the developmental history of post independent India. It was written by economist [[Arvind Subramanian]] and political scientist [[Devesh Kapur]]<ref name=":0">Parikh, Tej. [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/cracks-india-model-aiyar Economics for the real world — a provocative new playbook, plus India’s growth story]''.'' ''Financial Times.'' Retrieved on 2026-03-24</ref>.<br />
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The central theme of the book is that the Indian growth model presents a certain 'precociousness'<ref name=":0" /> where democracy outpaced economic development and social change, and where service sector developed before the development of the manufacturing sector and so on<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=An audacious new book about a "precocious" country |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/01/22/an-audacious-new-book-about-a-precocious-country |access-date=2026-03-24 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>. It puts forward a four-fold framework of 'state, society, nation and markets' to analyse India's growth story<ref name=":3">Nayak, Pulin B. Mayi-baap development. ''Biblio''. January-March 2026.</ref>. <br />
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The central problem, as identified by the authors, is statism, where people look at the state as the “provider and protector"<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Aiyar |first=Yamini |date=2026-02-17 |title=The Cracks in the India Model |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/cracks-india-model-aiyar |access-date=2026-03-24 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |volume=105 |issue=2 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref><ref name=":3" />. “Too much was asked of the state, too often and too soon”, write the authors. However, the work also notes that the state machinery in India is actually surprisingly small; India has almost half the number of police personnel per population as compared to England and Wales<ref name=":1" />; State employment as a percentage of the working-age population in India has been far below the global average<ref name=":2" />. The book contains rich comparative analyses of the many different trajectories traversed by different states in the country, and deals with how development is linked to interstate relations<ref name=":1" />. <br />
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[[The Economist]] in its review noted that the book that runs into more than 600 pages adopts an approach where 'charts, arguments and catchy phrases' are used in abundance<ref name=":1" />. [[Tej Parikh]], writing in the [[Financial Times]], concluded that the authors provide "one of the most comprehensive analyses" of India's development journey to date<ref name=":0" />.Pulapre Balakrishnan, writing in the [[The Indian Express|Indian Express]], criticised the authors stating that the work "is hobbled by the absence of a theoretical vision of growth"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-04 |title=Why Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian's 'A Sixth of Humanity' presents a flawed narrative of India's development |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/a-sixth-of-humanity-flawed-narrative-india-development-10453002/ |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>. <br />
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== References ==<br />
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[[Category:Indian non-fiction books]]<br />
[[Category:India]]<br />
[[Category:Indology]]<br />
[[Category:Postcolonialism]]</div>KristyThacker77