Dramatic differences in the quality of human life are a prominent feature of today’s world. In response, many governments and international development agencies have begun to formulate and implement agendas for social protection. Nevertheless, the outcomes of such initiatives remain vastly varied. What explains such variations? In this article, I direct attention to the role of class politics in shaping the implementation of social protection by local governments that implement India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Based on a synthesis of official data, interviews with beneficiaries of social protections and elites, and direct observations in two Indian States, the author illustrates the ways in which variations in class politics influence the supply of employment works. This article departs from existing analysis of factors that favour the implementation of social protections, namely commitment of bureaucrats and politicians, political party linkages and clientelism, and civil society activism. It also nuances extant class-focused analysis which tend to adopt a polarized model of class conflict between dominant classes and the laboring poor. This article, by contrast, appreciates the conflicts within dominant classes, and emphasizes the role of coalitions and competitions between elite fractions. Where elite fractions successfully co-opt or eliminate one another, they successfully sabotage the labour-friendly MGNREGA. On the other hand, where elite fractions conflict with one another, labour-friendly programs such as the MGNREGA have a chance of being implemented. However, the transformative aspect of the program’s intent, in terms of dissolving the relations of power that bolster poverty, appears to be more in evidence in localities where precarious elites align with the laboring poor to challenge the influence of the entrenched elites. As we examine alternative means of addressing the dramatic differences in the quality of life that continue to blight the contemporary world, the imperative to analyze class politics becomes greater than ever before.

中文翻译：

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阶级政治与社会保护：印度地方政府的比较分析

人类生活质量的巨大差异是当今世界的一个显着特征。作为回应，许多政府和国际发展机构已开始制定和实施社会保护议程。然而，这些举措的结果仍然千差万别。什么解释了这种变化？在本文中，我将关注阶级政治在塑造实施印度圣雄甘地国家农村就业保障法 (MGNREGA) 的地方政府实施社会保护方面的作用。基于对官方数据的综合、对社会保护受益者和精英的采访，以及在印度两个邦的直接观察，作者阐明了阶级政治的变化如何影响就业工作的供给。本文与现有的有利于实施社会保护的因素的分析背道而驰，即官僚和政治家的承诺、政党联系和客户主义以及公民社会激进主义。它还与现存的以阶级为中心的分析存在细微差别，这些分析倾向于采用统治阶级和劳动穷人之间阶级冲突的两极分化模型。相比之下，本文重视统治阶级内部的冲突，并强调精英阶层之间的联盟和竞争的作用。在精英部分成功地相互选择或淘汰的地方，他们成功地破坏了对劳工友好的 MGNREGA。另一方面，在精英阶层相互冲突的情况下，MGNREGA 等劳动友好型计划有可能得到实施。然而，该计划意图的变革性方面，在消除支持贫困的权力关系方面，似乎在不稳定的精英与劳动穷人结盟以挑战根深蒂固的精英影响力的地方更为明显。当我们研究解决继续困扰当代世界的生活质量的巨大差异的替代方法时，分析阶级政治的必要性变得比以往任何时候都更加重要。