Abstract/Sommario: Neoliberalism is in retreat and Election 2009 presents as an opportunity to bury it and go for an alternative development strategy. Gli articoli: Time for change / P. Patnaik (Neoliberalism has developed in India an economic model characterised by growing poverty at one pole and accumulation of wealth at another. Its defeat will be possible only if the state shakes off the hegemony of internal finance capital); Loss of livelihoods / C. P. Chandrasekhar ( programmes aimed at creating ...; [Leggi tutto...]
Neoliberalism is in retreat and Election 2009 presents as an opportunity to bury it and go for an alternative development strategy. Gli articoli: Time for change / P. Patnaik (Neoliberalism has developed in India an economic model characterised by growing poverty at one pole and accumulation of wealth at another. Its defeat will be possible only if the state shakes off the hegemony of internal finance capital); Loss of livelihoods / C. P. Chandrasekhar ( programmes aimed at creating jobs were initiated late and provided little or inadequate funding, and they fell short of their goals. A survey estimates a decline in employment from 16.2 million in September 2008 to 15.7 million in December 2008. Around half of the workforce in India does not work for a direct employer); A world of distress / U. Patnaik ( Depression in agriculture and farmer suicides continue, thanks to the misguided actions of Indian policymakers. A concrete action plan is needed to revive agriculture. It should include genuine debt relief measures for producers, crop price stabilisation, and income generation to revive demand); The price burden / J. Ghosh ( Overall inflation has slowed down, but food prices continue to increase. This will affect the poor, for whom food accounts for more than half of total household expenditure. Food prices are politically sensitive: elections have supposedly been won or lost over the price of onions); Lessons in apathy / R. Ramakumar ( The neglect of the public school system and the encouragement of private schools characterise the UPA's education policy); Unhealthy trend / R. Ramachandran ( The present government and the ones before it have neglected the health sector); Ways of Hindutva / K-M- Panikkar (The violence in Gujarat and Orissa has generated disgust towards the Sangh Parivar, but Hindu communalism is seeking to refurbish its image. Among the many reasons that attract people to a communal ideology and to communal violence are fundamentalism and poverty. For a long time, Hindu fundamentalism remained rather muted); Imperfect sympathy / P. S. Krishnan ( what the manifestos and common minimum programmes of political parties and governments in the past held for Dalits)