The anthropology of neoliberal India

Abstract

This special issue brings together ethnographic accounts exploring local and regional effects of transformations in India that social scientists have described under the heading of 'neoliberalism' (Alternative Survey Group 2007;Oza 2006;Patnaik 2007). Chief among these transformations in India are the economic restructuring processes after 1991 when the Government of India launched far-reaching policies of economic liberalisation, arguably under the pressure of global financial institutions. Acknowledging this significant turning point, we aim to highlight, however, the variegation with which neoliberal ideas, policies and technologies are dispersed and experienced among different segments of the population. In doing so, the authors of this special issue pursue an ethnographically informed 'grounding' of large neoliberal transformations. In Michael Burawoy's terms, such grounding is about 'extending out from the micro-processes to macro forces, from the space-time rhythms of the site to the geographical and historical context of the field' (2000a: 27).

We demand work! ‘Dispossession’, patronage and village labour in Bibiyana, Bangladesh

“…As we shall see, anticipation (a state in which one waits for or looks forward to events in the future) runs through every part of my account and is reflected in both liberal and neoMarxist theories of agrarian change. In terms of the latter, much of the emerging anthropology of industrialisation and neoliberalism in South Asia engages with the work of David Harvey and other Marxist theorists interested in capital accumulation and new forms of inequality (Adnan 2013;Kasmir and Carbonella 2008;Le Mons Walker 2008;Levien 2011Levien , 2012Levien , 2013Münster and Münster 2012;Corbridge and Shah 2013;Carswell and De Neve 2014;Münster and Strümpell 2014). Harvey's work has particular resonance for anthropologists researching the repercussions of the spread of global capital into new territories (2003).…”

Farmers’ Suicides as Public Death: Politics, Agency and Statistics in a Suicide-Prone District (South India)

“…This is not to blame the victims or to deny the dispossessive effects of neoliberal capitalism for Wayanad's smallholders; on the contrary, probing into agrarian practices may deepen our understanding of neoliberalism as both a global process of restructuring development policy and strategies of accumulation and as the cultural effects of these processes on the economic subjectivities of local actors. 57 Agrarian subjectivities are rooted in the recent history of agrarian migration, the neoliberalization of agriculture and the closure of the forest frontier for conservation in Wayanad. 58…”

Reconceptualizing Profit-Orientation in Management: A Karmic View on ‘Return on Investment’ Calculations

“…However, Weber is far from being an advocate for the kind of capitalism that today seems to prevail globally. He clearly saw the inhuman and destructive side-effects of this ideology (Löwy 2007) that today has, more or less, also become the standard for the Indian economy (Gellner 1995;Münster and Strümpell 2014;Singh 2013). Therefore, it is worth looking again at his works (Buss 1984).…”