Antje Linkenbach presents a working paper on 'The Power of Audibility: Contestation and Communication as Route to Cohesive Development'

Imagining ‘cohesive development’ as a new paradigm means turning away from a focus on economic growth and giving priority to an integrative, social perspective on development. The paper, therefore, focuses on three concepts – cohesion, difference, and development. In the first part the paper explores how these concepts are being defined and interpreted within the disciplines of sociology and anthropology, what are the relevant debates evolving around these concepts and how these debates merge in the paradigm of cohesive development. In the second part the article will draw attention to regionally and socially marginalized groups in India and their ‘capacity to aspire’. This section will reveal the plurality and heterogeneity of visions for a ‘good life’ and the ways how to shape the future. The paper concludes with reflections on the social and political conditions for audibility and parity of participation within the wider project of cohesive development.