Caste, Class, and Clientelism: A Political Economy of Everyday Corruption in Rural North India

This article was very interesting. I have been trying to find articles that primarily focus on Calcutta. This article wasn't quite that specific, rather it focused on northern India as a whole. Corruption was the main topic in this article. I have read about corruption in India in something that I have read previously, but this article went into more detail especially for the area in which the corruption takes place. The main focus was on the role of corruption in perpetuating material inequalities within rural society. It is not uncommon for people to create links with the police and politicians in order to build "cross-class alliances." Most of the dominant classes are usually quite successful in manipulating the local police force through bribery, influence, and intimidation. The author also discusses how people in north India often in rural India are brought into contact with government officials who demand bribes and ration state resources. People do this in accordance to their own financial and social interests. Corruption takes place not only by the rich farmers, but also by the rural poor. I thought this was interesting, because it would seem like the poor wouldn't have as much to bribe with or have much influence to persuade the officials with. This isn't necessarily true--differently positioned "agents attempt to insert themselves into patron-client networks." This article also discusses specific areas of corruption which includes corruption among cane societies, sugarcane cultivation and corruption. This article was interesting because it discussed an issue that I have already known to occur, yet it gave specific examples of where corruption comes about and who all it involves. I wished that I could have learned a little more about Calcutta specifically through reading this article, but that will be something I try to find in my next article I decide to read!