Free Download R. Balasubramaniam, "I, the citizen: unraveling the power of citizen engagement"
English | 2015 | ISBN: 8193097416 | EPUB | pages: 280 | 0.7 mb
The book, I, the Citizen is a milestone in a journey of reflection that began about seven years ago when the author, Dr. R Balasubramaniam (Balu) started writing about his experiences in the development sector. It is an experience where the author has donned the hat of a development activist, leadership trainer, policy advocate, civil society campaigner, anti-corruption investigator, academician and a researcher at various points in time. This volume strings together the author's experiences and perspectives over a period of three decades and has at its core, his first-hand engagement with people at the grassroots, especially forest-based indigenous people from South India's rural hinterland, among many others. Starting with an attempt to understand development and its various aspects, the book takes the reader through interpretations of development initiatives at the grassroots and what good governance means to ordinary people. The book unravels the power of citizen engagement through the author's experiences of leading civil society campaigns against corruption and towards strengthening democratic participation of people. The author also deals with the philosophical underpinnings of public policies, drawing from his on-the-ground experience as well as engagement with those in the higher echelons of policy making and implementation. Throughout the book, the author throws questions at the reader, rather than providing solutions or answers, with obvious intention of fostering the discourse on perspectives of development and citizen engagement.