Critical Reflections on Economy and Politics in India A Class Theory Perspective (Studies in Critical Social Sciences)

In This Book, Das Deploys Class Theory To Decipher India's Economic And Political Situation. It Deals With The Specificities Of India's Capitalism And Neoliberalism, And Their Economic Consequences. It Critically Examines Lower-class Struggles Led By The Left, And The Fascistic Politics Of The Right. Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 List of Illustrations 11 1 Introduction 16 2 Class in India 36 3 The Capitalist Character of Class Society in Post-colonial India: Moving Beyond the Mode of Production Debate 79 4 Neoliberal Capitalism with Indian Characteristics 132 5 Capitalism and Technological Change: Reflections on the Technology – Poverty Relation 183 6 Low-Wage Neoliberal Capitalism, Social-Cultural Difference, and Nature-Dependent Production 217 7 Class Relations, Class Struggle, and the State in India 248 8 Class Dynamics of Poverty, State Failure, and Class Struggle 297 9 State Repression as Class Struggle from Above 331 10 Capitalist Development and Liberal Democracy under a Right-Wing Regime 362 11 Towards a Political Economy of Fascistic Tendencies 391 12 Bourgeois-Political Dynamics of Fascistic Tendencies 435 13 Forward March of the Right and the Relative Weakness of the Left: What Is to Be Done? 475 14 Conclusions and Reflections 532 Appendix 1: Processes Influencing the Balance of Power between Capital and Labor 586 Appendix 2: A Suggested Research Program on Agrarian Neoliberalism 588 Bibliography 590 Index 646 "In this book, Das presents a class-based perspective on the economic and political situation in contemporary India in a globalizing world. It deals with the specificities of India's capitalism and neoliberalism, as well as poverty/inequality, geographically uneven development, technological change, and export-oriented, nature-dependent production. The book also deals with Left-led struggles in the form of the Naxalite/Maoist movement and trade-union strikes, and presents a non-sectarian Left critique of the Left. It also discusses the politics of the Right expressed as fascistic tendencies, and the question of what is to be done. The book applies abstract theoretical ideas to the concrete situation in India, which, in turn, inspires rethinking of theory. Das unabashedly shows the relevance of class theory that takes seriously the matter of oppression/domination of religious minorities and lower castes"-- Provided by publisher