Читать книгу The Political Economy of the BRICS Countries - Группа авторов - Страница 54

This chapter deals with inequality and poverty in India and Brazil in roughly the past two-and-half decades. Apart from being members of the BRICS group that is playing an important role in the world today, there are two other similarities between these countries that make their comparison interesting. First, as described below, both India and Brazil underwent cataclysmic changes during the past two to three decades which have radically restructured their economies and societies. Second, both India and Brazil are complex and diverse societies that are characterized by disparities on several dimensions. Following Stewart (2001), it has become customary to distinguish between vertical (interpersonal) and horizontal (group-based) inequalities. Studies on interpersonal inequality have mostly focused on income or consumption, whereas those on horizontal inequality (which is essentially multi-dimensional), have focused on both income and non-income dimensions (Stewart, 2001, 2010). Despite its importance, horizontal inequality has been relatively under-researched, although the situation has been rectified to a certain extent in recent times. Interpersonal and class-based inequalities are important in both countries. In addition, caste-based and ethno-racial inequalities are important in India and Brazil, respectively. This chapter is motivated by the idea that a comparative analysis of India and Brazil can provide insights into the interrelationship between inequalities and development and also shed light on policies that can ameliorate inequality.

In light of the above, in the second and third sections, I examine inequality and poverty in India and Brazil, respectively. I draw upon secondary literature to do so, including several of my own contributions on India. In the fourth section, I provide an explanation for the trends documented and present a comparison of the India and Brazil. The final section concludes.