‘Bottom-up’ Approaches in Governance and Adaptation for Sustainable Development
Case Studies from India and Bangladesh
- Pradip Swarnakar - Associate Professor of Sociology, ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior, India
- Stephen Zavestoski - Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of San Francisco, USA
- Binay Kumar Pattnaik - Professor of Sociology, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India
This book analyzes how governance and climate change adaptation - both integral to sustainable development - operate outside the bureaucratic apparatus of the state. It examines ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches to sustainable development and looks at a possible ‘middle-out’ approach to resolving the challenges to sustainable development.
The book also includes case studies from India and Bangladesh, which show that community-level factors such as social and cultural capital are key to the success of sustainable development efforts.
This important volume is a welcome addition to Western-dominated literature pushing top-down approaches to sustainable development. It gives voice to scholars and practitioners in countries like India and Bangladesh who report on promising bottom-up approaches that are suited to a diverse range of local settings.
This fine collection of work by insightful scholars adds greatly to our understanding of the challenges of sustainable development. The theme of shifting from top-down strategies to bottom-up runs through the chapters, providing a well-integrated book from a diversity of contributors