Growth, Stagnation and Decline of a Village: An Autobiographical Essay (A Nostalgic Socio-economic History of Tarar, Bihar, India)

Mishra, SK (2016): Growth, Stagnation and Decline of a Village: An Autobiographical Essay (A Nostalgic Socio-economic History of Tarar, Bihar, India). Published in: Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences , Vol. 4, No. 1 (12 March 2017): pp. 105-123.

Abstract

This autobiographical essay tells the story of growth, stagnation and decline of a village socio-economy in Bihar (India) that the author observed during the past six decades or so. It grew with optimism and cooperation among the inhabitants. But very soon it was eclipsed by the drive to aggressive resource acquisition, transgression and group rivalry culminating to crime and gloom. Almost each family of the village became contributor as well as subject to ‘envy-barrier to development’. Envy and ill will became the very stuff of life that dominated everything else. The pleasure of malevolence became the dominant drive to social behaviour. The people there now have almost no social or even personal purpose to reckon with. They are hiding themselves in their houses; they are afraid of their own shadows. They speak cautiously and stroll cautiously. The village has lost its life force, it has lost its shine, it has lost its present and it has lost its future.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Village socio-economy, Bihar, India, development, decline, stagnation, historical, autobiographical, envy-barrier
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B52 - Institutional ; Evolutionary; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

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