Listening to the Practitioners : The SHG Movement in West Bengal 

Edited by Debraj Bhattacharya Suman Nath 

Cover Design : Jyotirmoy Dutta 

This book tries to address a gap in our understanding of the development sector of India- how do development practitioners remember and assess development interventions? The academic books and papers that readers read on development issues are mostly written by scholars and represent their academic understanding of what happened. The perspective of those who try to do development is often missing in the discourse.

In this book, Debraj and Suman have tried to bring out the views of those who participated in the Self-Help Group movement in the state of West Bengal, India. The story is told in their words, through thirteen conversations. The editors followed the method of in-depth interviews to listen to the views of practitioners who participated in the movement in different ways-from policymakers to SHG leaders.

The book will be of interest to scholars and students of Development Studies, Women Studies, Public Policy, Memory Studies, and Rural Development. The book will also be useful for policymakers, political activists, Civil Society Organizations, Micro Finance Institutions, and journalists.