From the Kerala Model to the Kerala Question
(Book cover: design by Visaskh Menon, based on his painting series Tremors, archival ink on xuan rice paper, 2018-2021.) By Paul Kattuman July 11, 2026 This podcast is based on Paul Kattuman’s foreword for the book, Kerala and Keralites: The Promise and Challenges, to be published in July 2026. Kattuman is Professor of Economics at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Extracts from the foreword The central concern of this volume is a conversion problem. Kerala created a capable and aspirational society, but it has not always created the institutions or economic conditions in which those capabilities can be fully used. This is why the same achievement returns in the book as a difficulty: education without enough suitable work, migration without adequate protection for migrants, welfare without an assured fiscal base, and women’s advancement without corresponding power in the economy and public life. Kerala’s achievements were produced by social pressure. Communities, especially those denied status, wanted education because it brought dignity, mobility, employment, and bargaining power. State schooling, social movements, labour politics, and electoral mobilisation helped create a culture in which literacy and health became expectations. Kerala’s achievements in female literacy, health, and education do not by themselves amount to economic power. Women’s autonomy through work is shaped just as much by everyday conditions of freedom, such as safety in movement and a fairer distribution of care within families. The chapters in this volume approach Kerala’s development from different angles, but a common theme runs through them. They ask us to look at Kerala plainly: as a society of real achievements and serious contradictions. The Kerala Question is no longer whether human development matters. It is whether Kerala can turn human development into secure livelihoods, greater autonomy for women, environmental security, and a future that more people can imagine within Kerala itself. Paul Kattuman is Professor of Economics at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and Director of Studies in Management and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His research focuses on econometric methods and applied modelling, especially in public health, the space economy, and the Indian economy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with Andrew Harvey, Professor of Econometrics in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cambridge, to develop time-series models for tracking and forecasting epidemic trajectories as they evolved over time. This work contributed to operational forecasting in the UK and India, particularly Kerala. He is an Associate Editor of the Harvard Data Science Review and is affiliated with the Centre for India and Global Business and the Space Economy Initiative, both at Cambridge Judge Business School. Paul holds a BA and MA from the University of Calicut, Kerala, and an MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge, all in economics. This interview will be part of the book, Kerala and Keralites: The Promise and Challenges. The book is a collection of essays and interviews from the Global Indian Times, edited by Ignatius Chithelen and Cherian Samuel. Bryant Park Publishers. Publication: July 24, 2026. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.globalindiantimes.com
