The Political Economy of New India: Critical Essays

Critical of the economic and political power relations in contemporary India, this book is written from the vantage point of the working masses whose basic economic and democratic rights remain unmet. Written for a broader audience beyond the academic community, the essays that make up the book provide short critical commentaries on different aspects of Indian society undergoing significant changes in recent times. The essays are conceptually driven and include empirical details, but they generally avoid the usual perils of academicism, by expressing complicated ideas in a relatively simple language and by drawing out their practical implications. 1. Introduction 2. Neoliberal India and Indian Economy-in-Crisis, Post 2008 3. Neoliberalism, Agrarian Crisis, and Farmers’ Suicides 4. Neoliberalism, the Education Market, Civil Servants and the State 5. What Kind of Education for What Kind of Society? 6. The Hindu Right’s Model of Development 7. The Hindu Right’s Nationalist Worldview and Democracy in India 8. People’s Poverty vs ‘Poverty of Left Theory/Practice’ 9. The Class Character of the Indian State, and the Poor: A Long-Term View 10. Developmental Crisis and Politics of Protest Against Neoliberalism 11. The Left, and What is To Be Done About the Hindu Right? 12. The Left, and the Political Consciousness of the Masses 13. Significance of a Counter-Hegemonic Left Culture