{"pk":50660,"title":"Paths toward Sustainable Development in the 21st Century: A Comparative Analysis of “Exceptionalist” Development Models in Costa Rica and Kerala, India","subtitle":null,"abstract":"<p>In working to overcome the greatest challenges of the century, populous societies and governments have not properly recognized how to improve social conditions within the limits of our biosphere. In search of paths toward sustainable development in the 21st century, I analyzed two case studies known for their remarkable development outcomes: Costa Rica and the Indian State of Kerala. Publicly available data was used to visualize their development and sustainability progress over time. My analysis reveals that Costa Rica serves as a model for sustainable development, although its egregious overuse of agrochemicals is generally overlooked and must be replaced with regenerative agriculture practices. Although the success of the Kerala model is evident in the data, Kerala should not be considered a model of sustainable development due to its rampant pollution, limited economic opportunities, and overreliance on remittances sourced from unsustainable economies. Instead, I call for a continued study of Kerala as the Indian state transitions from development to sustainable development. Based on my findings, the developmental state emerges as a viable path for states worldwide to engage in sustainable development.</p>","language":"eng","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives  4.0","short_name":"CC BY-NC-ND 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\r\n\r\nNonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.\r\n\r\nNoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.\r\n\r\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0"},"keywords":[],"section":"Articles","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/01r4x3wk","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Rohith","middle_name":"A","last_name":"Moolakatt","name_suffix":"","institution":"UC Berkeley","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2025-08-15T04:42:43.873000+03:00","date_accepted":"2025-08-15T04:44:11.054000+03:00","date_published":"2025-08-15T06:34:09.159000+03:00","render_galley":{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/our_buj/article/50660/galley/38768/download/"},"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/our_buj/article/50660/galley/38768/download/"}]}