Expanding freedoms and improving commons through labour: A study of Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
(2023) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20231LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
- Abstract
- India faces an urban unemployment crisis and a crisis of declining life quality in urban spaces due to a lack of public services and the stress on urban commons. An urban employment guarantee scheme, such as Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), has the potential to address this twin crisis. Although well envisioned, AUEGS has underperformed since its inception, warranting attention. This study uses the capabilities approach to human development to assess AUEGS’ impact on urban commons and on beneficiaries' well-being understood as human freedoms. By employing fieldwork drawing on qualitative methods in Kerala, India, the study shows that although AUEGS guidelines aim to improve beneficiaries’ functionings and... (More)
- India faces an urban unemployment crisis and a crisis of declining life quality in urban spaces due to a lack of public services and the stress on urban commons. An urban employment guarantee scheme, such as Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), has the potential to address this twin crisis. Although well envisioned, AUEGS has underperformed since its inception, warranting attention. This study uses the capabilities approach to human development to assess AUEGS’ impact on urban commons and on beneficiaries' well-being understood as human freedoms. By employing fieldwork drawing on qualitative methods in Kerala, India, the study shows that although AUEGS guidelines aim to improve beneficiaries’ functionings and capabilities, structural and implementation issues hinder their realisation. While urban commons see improvement, beneficiaries experience a limited expansion of freedoms, and in some instances, further unfreedoms are created. This study also provides certain recommendations that target the identified issues of the scheme. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9117066
- author
- Subramanian, Sahana LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MESM02 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Capabilities, Sustainability Science, Human Freedoms, Kerala, Local Governance, Urban Commons
- publication/series
- Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
- report number
- 2023:009
- language
- English
- additional info
- Funding for this thesis is from the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) Fieldwork Grant and the Right Livelihood College (RLC) Fieldwork Grant.
- id
- 9117066
- date added to LUP
- 2023-05-31 10:22:29
- date last changed
- 2023-05-31 10:22:29
@misc{9117066, abstract = {{India faces an urban unemployment crisis and a crisis of declining life quality in urban spaces due to a lack of public services and the stress on urban commons. An urban employment guarantee scheme, such as Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), has the potential to address this twin crisis. Although well envisioned, AUEGS has underperformed since its inception, warranting attention. This study uses the capabilities approach to human development to assess AUEGS’ impact on urban commons and on beneficiaries' well-being understood as human freedoms. By employing fieldwork drawing on qualitative methods in Kerala, India, the study shows that although AUEGS guidelines aim to improve beneficiaries’ functionings and capabilities, structural and implementation issues hinder their realisation. While urban commons see improvement, beneficiaries experience a limited expansion of freedoms, and in some instances, further unfreedoms are created. This study also provides certain recommendations that target the identified issues of the scheme.}}, author = {{Subramanian, Sahana}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, series = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}}, title = {{Expanding freedoms and improving commons through labour: A study of Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme}}, year = {{2023}}, }