Work, Democracy and Development

Modern day organisations tend to create an ideological methods which promotes either authoritarian-communal or democratic-secular values. These values in turn either reinforce traditional dependency or promote capability and empowerment in people for sustainable development. This book provides standardised psychological instruments to evaluate and monitor organisations, movements and programmes in order to better understand their functioning and outcomes in terms of the values they promote. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach based on socio-psychological methods, Prayag Mehta demonstrates the inter-relationship between workplace functioning, democracy and development performance. He reports research on important psychological factors like leadership values, self-esteem, problem-solving behaviour, democratic-secular behaviour, out-group and self-images and social hostility, and provides empirical evidence to confirm certain hypotheses regarding democratisation, management and development performance. Using Psychological tools, including scales for Democratic Authoritarian Attitude, Secular Attitude, Self-Concepts, Leadership and Problem-solving behaviour, Professor Mehta explores. The changing self-concept among disadvantaged Dalit and tribal children and its impact on politics. The critical role of social and welfare policies in enhancing self-esteem, reflective thought and creativity. The manner in which parochialism and communally oriented school management strengthens authoritarian values and social hostility among children in their charge. The role of democratic and secular leadership in promoting people’s capability for sustainable development . The functioning of the workplace, academic institutions, and of related programmes in promoting the democratisation of civil society. With its fresh insights and new conceptualisations regarding the functioning of organisations,institutions and development programmes, this unusual book will interest those working in the fields of psychology, organisational behaviour, development studies, human resource development, sociology, education and public administration as also non-government organisations and development agencies.