To a curious onlooker, Bihar seems like a place full of paradoxes. It has a rich cultural heritage from the civilisational past, but evokes images of being ‘uncultured’, ‘primitive’ and ‘rustic’ in the present.

Traversing Bihar depicts and interprets Bihar’s internal contradictions and struggles. The volume examines and analyses crucial political, social and developmental concerns of the state over the past two decades.

Between 1990 and 2005, Bihar under Lalu Prasad Yadav witnessed a social churning, called the politics of social justice. This period ushered in a process of de-elitisation of politics with far-reaching consequences. However, over time, Yadav’s regime became chaotic and failed to combine change and development.

In 2005, the people voted for a change and brought the Nitish Kumar-led JDU-BJP coalition to power. The new regime restored the state—the police, the quiescent bureaucracy, the rule of law. It seemed to be making concerted efforts to improve the climate of development in the state.

The 13 chapters of this volume, divided into three sections, look into issues such as growth and development, the politics of water resources, social exclusion in flood response, land rights, agrarian relations, the Left movement, and voting patterns in Bihar.

Well into its second term, the concerns about Bihar have re-emerged. Is Nitish Kumar’s model of development devoid of social justice? Does it re-elitise politics? Why did the new developmental state renege on its promises of tenancy reforms? Is the bureaucracy not responsible for raising the scale of corruption? Was the restoration of law and order and the model of development geared to satisfy middle-class demands for security and well-being?

In asking these questions and providing in-depth analyses of Bihar’s contemporary issues, this one-of-a-kind book will be an invaluable guide for scholars and students of economics, development studies and political science.