Intersecting PerspectivesMoggallan Bharti DALITS IN NEOLIBERAL INDIA: MOBILITY OR MARGINALISATION Edited by Clarinda Still Routledge, New Delhi, 2014, pp. 292, Rs. 750.00 VOLUME XXXIX NUMBER 4 April 2015 S
lavoj Zizek while discussing his new
work at LSE recently, emphatically un
derlines the ‘Universalism of Capitalism’
and further states that at the level of
economy ‘capitalism has triumphed worldwide’
in contemporary times. For Zizek ‘the
mask of cultural diversity today is sustained
by the actual universalism of global capital’.
It is clear that in today’s India there is a growing
acceptance of Neoliberalism* as the only
viable framework of economic progress. This
global model of financial capitalism under
the rubric of neoliberal philosophy was unleashed
in the Indian economy by the Rajiv
Gandhi Government in early 1990s; rigorously
pushed by the Manmohan Singh Government
since 2004 and has now found an
almost invincible patron under the Narendra
Modi Government since June 2014. Today
we are witnessing a Hindu Right Government—riding
high on the promise of development—which
of course is neoliberal in
nature; openly embracing the capitalist class
and by the same logic—unabashed capitalism.
Barring a few university classrooms and
seminars, there is not even the slightest hint
of debating neoliberalism in India today. The
politics of neoliberal hegemony is now near
complete and it is this universalism as unceremoniously
pointed out by Zizek and an
uncritical acceptance of the same which is
dangerous not only for the country as a
whole, but counterproductive to the dalit
movement as well.
Dalits in Neoliberal India: Mobility or
Marginalisation? edited by Clarinda Still, as
its title suggests, helps in understanding the
process of neoliberalism within the context
of rising inequalities in Indian society—a
society which is deeply embedded in social
inequalities to begin with. This book where
young scholars along with seasoned academics
are both present with their critical analysis
and inputs, was duly awaited. That is not
to say that there is a complete absence of
critical work being done on neoliberal
economy in India. There is of course a vast
literature available today which scrutinizes
the current status of the Indian economy and
exposes the ugly consequences of the same
which has further pushed the multitudes to
the brink of poverty. However, this work
stands unique in the sense that it gives multifaceted
understanding on the lives of millions
of dalits and where do they rest on the
spectrum of economic growth or how dalits
have progressed in the middle of this
neoliberal churning. How does the withdrawal
of the state under aggressive
neoliberalism affect dalits, ... Table of Contents >> |