At a time when disillusion with neo-liberal development nostrums is mounting, alternative models of development are being revisited. Kerala's 30 million people may not have experienced rapid growth in GDP per capita, but they have for the past several decades achieved a remarkable social record in terms of adult literacy, infant mortality, life expectancy, stabilizing population growth, and narrowing gender and spatial gaps. What are the political, social and cultural factors responsible for Kerala's success? Does its human development record necessarily relate to sustainability in environmental terms? What realistic view can be taken of its replicability elsewhere in India or further afield in the South? These are among the most important questions explored in this timely reassessment.