Copyright: Madras Institute of Development Studies.

Includes index.

Western Tamil Nadu has witnessed tremendous changes in the last many decades, which have underpinned its contemporary economic, social and political importance. However, the region in general has remained largely understudied.


A Remembered Village, A Remembered Town gives an impressionistic account of socio-economic changes in a village, Appipalayam, and its nearest town, Karur, in the second half of the twentieth century. As a trained economist, S. Neelakantan brings his scholarship to bear on his lived experience and, whilst exploring labour, landed power, caste, and rural-urban linkages, provides an insightful account of the transformations, growth, and stagnation witnessed in the Kongu region across five decades. Peppered with anecdotes, this book makes for a gripping read.