Lecture
VII - India's economic environment: Past, present and emerging
challenges 02.11.11
disparity, a
land of diversity
Major three
Policy Periods
- 1950 – 1980 : Inward looking era, closed economic attitude, pure rely on Indian way of doing. Experts estimate a max. growth rate of 3% for India
- 1980 – 1991 : mild liberalization era with GPD at 5%
- 1991 – present : extensive liberalization era (new age entrepreneurs) with over 6% GDP growth
I and II
phase are marked by a lot of instability concerning politics,
economy, energy
III is
politically stable, BUT cautious attitude towards external influence
remains
What went
wrong since Nehru's president legacy? (Phase I)
Situation
outcome:
- India was one of the poorest countries in the world with 60% being poor of the population; today 37%
- not enthusiastically about working and earning more
- British rule brought along many changes, e.g. higher education system, but on the other side exploitation of India
The basic
idea to improve India's economy was to stimulate investment –->
that would lead to higher salaries.
Who should
make the investments?
- government decided that the public sector should be responsible for investments
- private sector may join during the process
Where should
the investments be done?
- consumer goods
- capital goods – were chosen because of India's economic situation, e.g. steel, soap
Bombay Plan
of private investors
Nehru –
Nehru – Mahatamobis strategy
Since 1960
the food production started improving and India no longer was
dependent on aid by US.
In contrast
to South Korea, India neglected the education sector and refused to
open up its economy. Moreover, Bad Governance has been going on
until today.
A situation
where the population depends on the government while only 1% pay tax
in India.
Nowadays the
government is not getting richer despite the economic growth.
A lot of
leakage (commission) happens with tax money.
All about
bribery, status and power..
Introduction
of mild Liberation (Phase II)
- freedom is added for the industry to grow inside
- new opportunities and space
- import restrictions got a bit lose → economy started growing (e.g. computers, goods)
Balance of
payment evolves from Import/ Export
The Golf war
impacted India's economy in the way that India depends to about 70%
on crude oil import. Moreover, the Golf area employs many Indians in
countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. During this time many
came back and made use of their remittances.
Extensive
Liberation (Phase III)
India
decided to borrow money from the IMF/ World Bank, which presented a
Blueprint of conditions.
The
expectations was to liberalize the country.
Although
India always wanted to remain sovereign “we do not beg from other”
the economic situation made them borrow money.
This
resulted in economic reforms that had a drastic and unexpected
change!
The result
was a change in basic principles. Before India was a very collective
society, that focused on giving people who had less. For example if
one person is making too much profit, that was not allowed, since
only one person profits from the community. Indians were against
competition.
However, the
changes and impacts of the IMF conditions required competition to
achieve efficiency. This was a new concept for Indian economy and
everybody was now able to earn as much as possible.
Future
questions that need to be addressed in India:
- What is the role of the government? The role of state and government needs to be defined
- How to manage the crude oil import to meet future demand?
Lecture VI - Globalization
continued 28.10.11
Pitfalls of top down
approach
- ignores social situation and local group's needs
- official statistics, short studies by experts through survey methods and using questionnaire (not connect to earth)
- social researchers on short visits tend to rely on information from people in position of power “social power in hand's of men”
- format questionnaire structures present little opportunity for presenting new information or divergent views. Such methods do little to analyse process of change nor to link them to historical experiences/ cultural practices
- focus on realities of powerful institutions and privileged groups and global and local levels and may be blind to realities of disempowered groups
Globalization and socio
economic inequalities
- SAP – structural adjusting programmes –
- few avenues that the state had opened up for mobility monopolised by upper structure of cast society using traditional resources like land, wealth, privilege
Globalization and social
movements in India
- environment/ ecology
- gender
- tribes and marginal areas
- opposition to one world, one culture, one polity global order
NSM – Perception of
globalization
- incarnation of an idea of development representing explicit institutions of global hegemonic power
- intensification of socio-economic inequalities
- rejection of Indian state's position for poor after NEP (1991)
NSM's ideas of development
- non-hegemonic (decentralized decision making)
- pluralistic, feminism, human rights
NSM features
- ruling elite (capital, growth...) views such movements as break down at order onset of chaos, anarchy and suppresses them only to provoke them further (e.g. Anna movement)
- western influence as a threat on Indian culture
Creative society
- phase of development when large number of potential contradictions become articulate and active (make sense and communicate them)- upsurges in tribal/ delit/ ecological/ women movements are signs- does not aim to replace existing society but expand the realm of democratic struggle
Modern Capitalism and
NSM
- Irony of capitalism “alienation of individuals”
Agriculture in India
more than 60% of
population is engaged
AOA – agreement of
Agriculture with WTO
cash crops vs food crops
example for withdraw of
Coca Cola factory due to water pollution in Plachimada
Women empowerment India
- strongly obvious within the last decade, but began 3 decades ago
- reason 2001 Swashakti Women Empowerment
- more than 60% of all agricultural workers are women
Issue of dowry
wealth of father is
distributed to his sons only after death.. to compensate this a
married daughter is gifted (dowry) “daughters treated as the
property of someone else, because she is going to leave anyway”
NOW; demand came as family
of the son started to demand certain things, e.g. car, house
“Not enough women in
India” maybe because of “killing of female infants” to avoid
dowry
Lecture V - Globalization
and its different categories 25.10.11
“Globalization is as old
as human history”
New social movements
- examples for social movements, African American, women, environmental etc.
- goal is to eradicate class differences in society (inspired by theory of Marxism)in 70s Global Oil crisis led to energy politics, which proposed an alternative development
- during developed world – hidden agenda → “Started new social movements”late 1990's different view and reaching a new height
- Lenin said “Imperialism is the highest form of Capitalism”, meaning to enrich one own country, one needs to create new markets → colonialism → exploit other countries and boost own country through the wealth generated
- Americanization, e.g. Pizzahut, MTV, → symbols of new tendency leads to homogenisation of global markets to create one common taste (cultural taste) to suit the supply of American corporations... new scale/ dimension of globalization that happens to coincide with technological development
Three categories of
globalization
change vs. transformation
(1. end product of series of changes, 2. severe change)
1. Hyper globalists/
globalizers
- highly critical in context of development world
- celebrity globalizers
- blind advocates of global markets
- well fare state withdrawal is consequence of globalisations→ mechanism as tool for exploitation
2. Sceptics
- focus on economic aspects
- say no decline nation – states autonomy
- prefer to use “internationalization”/ “regionalization”
3. Transformationalist
- globalization is an outcome of interrelated processes of technology, economical activity, governance, culture→ creates new forms of global satisfaction
In 1991 India opened up as
an economy due to lack of money. India borrowed money from IMF, World
Bank under the condition to undergo structural adjustments
Similar with other
countries. IMF/ World Bank lends money based on adjusting structures
of governments
Nowadays 60 – 70% of
Indian population is occupied in Agriculture
WTO's involvement in
Agriculture trade liberalized, but led to severe drop in prices!
Local farmers have to compete with global corporations. During this
“mad rush” many farmers were struggling to make a living (using
pesticides and power seeds) without success and many began suicide.
Example Osissa – a
region in India that allowed Chinese company to mine there without
responding to concerns of tribes, who are dependent on the land →
they fight against and protect their land
→ Top Down Approach of
implementation
…......to be continued
….......
Lecture IV – Globalization 26.09.11
speech of “globalizing inequality” by P. Sainath 2005
How
is Globalization affecting our country?
→ ethical
conflict vs. values, e.g. your company wants you to do it !?! What do
you do?
Notes
from the video
- for last 20 years inseparable economic status vs. people well being
- claim: the worse the destruction the higher the current stock exchange (smell for profit)
- “the misery index” in proportion to peoples
- coverage of media of Tsunami, but what about 82.000 houses destroyed by violence in Mumbay city (forceful demolition of person belonging to not make them come back)
- Grand Wedding (wealthy Indians build up themes for a wedding, spending enormous amounts of money) while next door suicide is done due to poverty
- donation for Tsunami barely reaches its victims, because smaller NGOs willing to do something have no resources, while the big NGOs that are keeping the money are not doing anything
- mentality of “You receive this not because it is your fundamental right, but because I am so generous” → charity that begins at homes and stays at home
- mindset of inequality – poor have no rights
- SAP – Structure Adjustment Project, stopped welfare functions to be provided by state (privatization, withdrawal of the state)
- Water Privatization in Latin America
- “Engineered Inequality” by corporations → basis for slavery
- Reference to ancient Rom and the burning of prisoners... “Refuse to join Neru's party”
Business Environment India – The caste system – Lecture III 21.Sept.11
India,
a country of ambiguity and contradiction...
Sanskritization -
“marking life style similar to upper class, that were more
religious in practice”
vertical mobility – to
have greater social status
Brahmanization is part of
Sanskritization.
Brahmans are the leading
class, but not necessarily the dominant caste. It depends on the
particular location which caste is the dominant one. The lower ones
than try to imitate/ copy the dominant one. Dominant on three major
levels, i.e. economically well off, political power, ritual
practices/ social acceptance
Indian caste system – is
very rigid (starr), but the way it is practiced seems very
flexibility
Caste – 5 distinct ones
with innumerable Jatis (that have hierarchy as well) → complexity
→ some castes wanted to
break gradual movement instead progression of moment in evolutionary
way. The result is a socially nonacceptance by all other castes.
This process was also
going on before the English came. When they arrived, they brought
Westernization with them “hedonistic pleasures”... which is a
prerequisite for Sanskritization?
→ Bi-cultural Indians,
British became No.1 on social status because of their technological
advancement and luxurious lifestyles: new social equation → English
as example
Role of Brahmans as priest
– mediator between lower cast and spirit.
Separation of Brahmans:
- Spiritual ones who considered the British to culturally pollute them
- Secular ones that became worldly by adopting British lifestyle
The British also led to
the freedom/ reform movement to get rid of “evil practices”, i.e.
religious practices by ridiculing them.
Collectivism
(Sanskritization) vs. Individualism (democracy)
Limited Resources facing
unlimited demand since globalization/ liberation, leading to survival
of the fittest “Rat Race” → market economy, more intense
competition growth
Ancient India (Brahmans
drinking Alcohol, eating beef) ← Buddhism had strong influence on
the behavior, as well as various historical circumstance.
Four views on roots of
salience of caste
- Primordial view that is legitimated by Rig Vedas
- Modernity – caste as product of modernity (government agreed to officially ask your cast)
- census and caste – caste as a product of colonial policies, especially
- patronage view – voters make decision based patronage: the ones who win try to follow their own interest, while the losers look for new interpretations
Caste in our social
imagination
- in urban India caste will become less salient but more fixed (e.g. in cities like Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore) too busy lifestyle (Who cares?), individualistic lifestyle, for companies does not matter
- In rural India caste will become more salient but more fluid “whatever they are, they are” → definition depends upon the context, the meaning of the titles might have different outcomes in reference to each interpretation. These become different categories.
Utta = North Pradesh =
State Ajgar = Python Dalit = Untouchable
Subbatem = bottom up
approach Begar = Slavery
Dalit Perspective vs Hindu
Perspective (dominating collective consensus) sense of right and
wrong
→ perception of judgment
dominating by Hindu perspective (top-bottom approach)
Positive Discrimination
and De Sanskritization
Scheduled Caste
Scheduled Tribes receive
certain rights due to positive discrimination. This leads to
enrichment of certain groups, MBC (most backwards cast), OBC (Other
Backward Class) However, those who benefit, continue to benefit
because the wealth stays within the family. No Means to an end, but
the pie stays the same, while more want & want
“fragmentation of
society”... positive discrimination is not working
That's why some perpetuate
as lower cast to receive governmental benefits. This is meant by De
Sanskritization!
According to one book, it
claims that India is poor because policy making is made only for own
interest. The attention has never been put to alleviate poverty.
Instead, own caste interest and future development of them is the
priority.
Marwari – Business
Community, they have been associated with business men for centuries
Marwar a region in
Rajastan
Salient (hervorragend)
Features of Dalit Perspective, main premises:
- Harijans coined by rationalist
- Hindu practices
- untouchablility
- depressed classes
 |
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Marathi: डॉ.भीमराव रामजी आंबेडकर [bʱiːmraːw raːmdʑiː aːmbeːɽkər]; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, and a revolutionary. He was also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution.[1] Born into a poor Mahar (considered an Untouchable caste) family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna – the categorization of Hindu society into four varnas – and the Hindu caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited with providing a spark for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of untouchables to Theravada Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990. --wiki--
Lecture II – Business
Environment India – An introduction to Indian history 19.09.11
On 15. August 1947 –
Independence Day and on 26. Jan. 1950 Republic day
India can be best
described as an idea of nation with more than 18 official languages +
many languages of their own right. Tamil (Dravidische Sprache) is
older than Sanskrit (indoarisch/ Indogermanistik), which is already
considered to be ancient.
Since 1947 the idea of
India as a nation state exists because of an political concept, which
can be referred to the treaty of Westphalia
„International relations
theorists have identified several key principles of the Peace of
Westphalia, which explain the Peace's significance and its impact on
the world today:
- The principle of the sovereignty of states and the fundamental right of political self determination
- The principle of (legal) equality between states
- The principle of non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another state“ --wiki--
What is the idea of India?
- a shift of authority and power from micro level authorities, e.g. in a community normally 5 people decide over the consequences of a crime → in one night!
- “India gifted by democracy”
- there have always been changes in political systems in India. But the social elite/ arena stays unchanged (social elite vs. governmental elite)
- very strong social believe in cultural values and manners, that are valid until today (e.g. marriage outside one's cast)
Preamble
We the people of India …
Sovereign - “Sovereignty
is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a
geographical area”
– wiki –
Socialist - “state took
control” to enhance private sector, which was not able to develop
itself → “socialistic
pattern of society with room for private
players”
Secular – 1. classical
meaning that state does not intervene in religious affairs 2. But
constitute formal rights
for minorities “vote bank politics”
democratic Republic
“india, je, Baharat,
shall be a union of state “(no use of federal system in order to
emphasize the idea of one despite its diversity
India was “self-
perpetuating” as a society (a community with shared moral order)
meaning that it sustained
itself without any external intervention
Implementation of
democracy posed the question how heterogeneity would work out under a
common state.
India developed “the
Idea of India” during the process of fighting, it took form from
its own past, using myths and legends to unite spirit and to overcome
diversity. “Beyond diversity is unity”
→ Crystallization of
“Idea of India”
With the implementation of
the Republic everyone started to want something from the state, e.g.
a job, education etc.. the system was overwhelmed by demand and
little supply. The result was an increase of competition (common
market situation) and since there was no regulation nor legislation
to cope with the problem, people referred to what they knew and
already had, which was the cast system. This way the cast system
served as a basis (Varna system legitimised by Rig Veda)
In addition India was
linguistically divided “linguistic division” of communities –>
the country was divided based on language (provinces/ states)
cast 1. 2. 3. 4. plus many
many subcasts which are the Jatis
Gotra
- an upper cast belief, which refers to the own linage, and the most
distant ancestor, e.g. Rishi (a holy saint), or Maha. → marriage
from the same linage was not granted
“Basis
of resistance was village and Jatis through endogamous practices”
Idea
of Karma – any action will reap a reaction – Negative bad effects
of the past can be compensated for by doing good now. Not possible to
influence past, but can influence the future.
(mutual)
organic solidarity – interdependence of each cast
But,
Brahmans had access to education/ Vedas and so had the last word
“India is difficult
to change, but easy to rule” - Impact of the British Rule
Utilitarian school of
thought - “Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that
the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall
"good" of the greatest number of individuals. It is thus a
form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of
an action is determined by its resulting outcome. The most
influential contributors to this theory are considered to be Jeremy
Benthamand John Stuart Mill. “ --wiki--
- positive changes through law implementation
- the British followed the Utilitarian ethical theory in India by intermingling India/ Britain
- “Indian in colour and blood but English in tastes, beliefs, morals, intellect”
- this led to a division of Indians themselves with elite being bi-cultural 1. traditional Sanskrit 2. Anglicized/ Westernized
magnanimity
– “Großherzigkeit, Großmut, Seelengröße”
intermingling/ intermingle
- “vermischen”
to elope – leave without
permission
India post 1947
The
history is shaped by its leaders, e.g. stand out leaders:
Nehru
and Patel (first home minister)
→
India was gifted by democracy and imposed by the Nehru ruling elite
Different
lists exists that give the right to the Union or State to pass on a
law based on categories
Union
List/ State List (e.g. socio economic, affirmative action/ positive
discrimination – to upgrade people who belong to a group which is
considered “backward” due to historical reasons/ circumstances
→
rights conferred on collectivities “moderate way of social
transformation”
1971
Indira Gandhi Era (being blamed for corruption, many bad things...but
also good ones,e.g. Bangladesh)
- signing treaties, e.g. 20 year friendship with soviet union, or 1973 pact with Kashmir
- searched for contact with local masses
- ignored older people and values → started the idea of creating local parties → this carried along the power of vote as people realized “my cast, my children, my future...” → Vote banks politics
India
Today
- Hindu Nationalism
Ethnic
Diversity
- what is the glue ?
- Consciousness is what binds you
- what is distinctive to others → special recognition
Identity
Politics- comparison to others
Only
through a comparison to others one can learn about ones own identity
Lecture I 13.09.11
Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs west -- the myths that mystify
introductory movie
Objective
Business Environment in India course is intended to develop an understanding of the external environment of business and its implications for managerial decisions;
Course Delivery
The course is organized in two modules. The first module is to provide an understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of the environment that managers need to negotiate in their business life. This module has two credits and with twenty hours of classroom contact. The second module has field visits to Indian organizations. The student needs to prepare reports on the field visit and this is evaluated for one credit.
Module I: Social Transformations in India
Introduction
The title of the course by itself indicates the vastness of the subject. If one has to study whatever transformations have happened in India, a broad foundation in Indian history, sociology, economics, political science and philosophy is crucial. India is riddled with complexities which correspond to sociological variables such as caste, class, gender, political economy, sexuality, language as well as the ‘nation’. To have a complete understanding of all this is not possible within the gambit of this course but an attempt would be made to laying a ‘foundation’ in that direction.
Why is this course important?
It is worth repeating time and again that a foundation in social sciences is extremely crucial forall disciplines. Grounding in sociology, economics or history opens us to many ways of looking at the world. This in turn leads one to be better equipped to deal with the management profession. Last but not the least, a management student needs to understand the immediate world from where she/he is operating from (in this case India). What needs to be incorporated are critical ways of thinking and that would not be possible if one does not adopt the various disciplines of social sciences.
Course Objective:
1) To emphasis a general and focused need for the social sciences in our everyday lives as well as our profession.
2) An overview of the social processes in India in terms of the socio‐cultural economic and political.
