Constrained Expertise in India and China Knowledge and Power in Policymaking

Constrained Expertise in India and China explores what kinds of knowledge and knowledge purveyors get mobilized and privileged, and what gets sidelined in policymaking in India and China. Through its detailed empirical studies in both countries, the volume illuminates a trend of increasing concentration of political authority which has frequently demanded that experts be aligned with the central government’s agenda. Spaces are shrinking for divergent and oppositional viewpoints, whether these come from the bureaucracy, academia, think tanks, or NGOs. The declining autonomy of experts has been exacerbated by institutional structures, since knowledge purveyors that directly contribute to policymaking typically have been embedded within bureaucracies or otherwise dependent on the state rather than occupying independent bases. Both countries face the challenge of how to build and sustain ecosystems of heterogeneous experts that are not simply echo chambers of executive authority. The edited collection represents a pathbreaking contribution to the study of expertise and governance in India and China.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International license.

Manjari Mahajan is Associate Professor of International Affairs, and the Starr Professor and Co-Director of the India China Institute at The New School. Her work is on global health, politics of science and technology, development, and philanthrocapitalism.

Mark W. Frazier is Professor of Politics, and the Starr Professor and Co-Director of the India China Institute at The New School. His research examines China’s political economy in comparative perspective, including social policy and the politics of population aging.