Revisiting the local power structure in Bangladesh: economic gain, political pain?

Following up on research conducted by the authors just over a decade ago, this study of the local power structure presents new qualitative data to analyse the changing formal and informal institutions that govern people’s lives in rural and urban Bangladesh. It explores the ways in which disadvantaged individuals and groups seek to increase their influence and further their economic and social goals, documents the barriers and challenges that people living in poverty face, and explores the current limits to these local change processes. It finds that while economic opportunities have increased during the past decade, this change has come with a potential political cost.