India Working: Essays on Society and Economy (Contemporary South Asia)

Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Dedication......Page 7
Title......Page 9
Copyright......Page 10
Contents......Page 11
Preface and acknowledgments......Page 12
Tables......Page 16
Indian terms......Page 18
Technical terms......Page 20
Abbreviations......Page 21
1 Introduction: the character of the Indian economy......Page 23
The India of the 88 per cent – its many labels......Page 25
The informal economy......Page 26
The black economy......Page 29
Fieldwork......Page 31
Social structures of accumulation......Page 35
2 The workforce and its social structures......Page 39
Labour–land relations......Page 44
Coercion in contracts: Patronage and debt-bondage......Page 46
The spatial unit for labour......Page 47
The gendering of work......Page 49
Age and work capacity......Page 51
Caste and class......Page 53
Workforce insecurity......Page 56
The State and labour......Page 57
Labour politics......Page 60
Conclusion......Page 63
3 Indian development and the intermediate classes......Page 65
Intermediate classes and regimes – the ideas......Page 66
Preconditions......Page 68
Intermediate class power......Page 69
The politics of markets......Page 72
Historical shortcomings......Page 75
Theoretical problems......Page 77
The relevance to the economy of the 88% of the theory of intermediate classes......Page 79
Structural threats to the ‘intermediate regime’......Page 81
‘Marketising’ India......Page 82
State resources......Page 83
Inflation......Page 84
The demise of the ‘intermediate regime’?......Page 85
The actually existing State......Page 94
The local State in action: five case studies......Page 97
The regulation of commodities: The Essential Commodities Act and the Public Distribution System in Karnataka......Page 99
The regulation of land use and land ‘markets’ in Karachi, Pakistan......Page 101
Institutional scarcity and development in Tamil Nadu......Page 103
Social identity and the local State......Page 105
The depletion of municipal finance......Page 107
The ‘shadow’ State......Page 110
The private status State......Page 112
Liberalisation, actually existing structural adjustment and institutional scarcity......Page 113
The consequences of state depletion......Page 115
The developmental failure of fraud and tax evasion......Page 119
The Indian State and the World Bank’s State......Page 121
5 Gender, family businesses and business families......Page 125
Patriarchy and Accumulation I: Men......Page 128
Patriarchy and Accumulation II: Women......Page 138
Implications I: Development......Page 141
Implications II: Well-being......Page 143
6 India’s religious pluralism and its implications for the economy......Page 154
Hinduism and development......Page 155
Secularism, the State and capital......Page 158
The religious minorities in India’s economy......Page 161
Muslims......Page 164
The case of Siliguri......Page 167
The case of south Indian leather......Page 168
Small-town Muslim commerce......Page 171
The economic bases of communal violence......Page 172
Christians......Page 174
Caste, Christianity and economic change......Page 176
Sikhs......Page 177
Jains......Page 181
Religion, accumulative and reproductive practices......Page 182
Religious plurality and small-scale accumulation in south India......Page 184
Conclusion......Page 188
The collective preconditions for competition......Page 190
Authority in market exchange......Page 191
Functional efficiency......Page 192
Competition and conflict......Page 193
Increased religiosity......Page 194
The economic role of the big religion......Page 195
7 Caste and corporatist capitalism......Page 198
Small-town economy......Page 201
The collective politics of markets......Page 206
Corporatism and class......Page 212
Gender......Page 215
Corporatism and the State......Page 216
Conclusion......Page 218
8 Space and synergy......Page 222
Clusters: building blocks for modern capitalism?......Page 225
Five distinctive features of Indian clusters......Page 229
Quiddity......Page 230
The ‘viscosity’ of capital......Page 231
The internal relations of labour control......Page 232
Peculiarities of competition and accumulation......Page 233
Explaining India’s clusters......Page 235
The agrarian structure of the region around a cluster......Page 236
The location and role of pre-existing merchant castes......Page 240
The local State......Page 241
The local agrarian structure and ‘quiddity’......Page 242
The local agrarian structure and the relative ‘viscosity’ of capital......Page 243
The local agrarian structure and labour control......Page 244
The agrarian structure and the toleration of negative environmental externalities......Page 245
The mercantile castes and quiddity......Page 247
Mercantile castes and capital viscosity......Page 249
The mercantile castes and labour control......Page 251
The mercantile castes and competition and accumulation......Page 253
The role of mercantile castes and the tolerance of negative externalities......Page 255
The state and quiddity......Page 256
The local state and capital viscosity......Page 257
The local State and competition......Page 258
In sum......Page 259
9 How India works......Page 261
India’s social structures of accumulation......Page 262
Real structural adjustment......Page 266
10 Postscript: proto-fascist politics and the economy......Page 270
Authoritarianism......Page 271
Nationalism, racism and xenophobia......Page 272
Statolatry......Page 273
Ideology and leadership......Page 274
The class origins of fascism......Page 275
Appendix 1 Liberalisation and Hindu fundamentalism......Page 278
Procedure......Page 280
Implementation......Page 281
Types of seizure and capture......Page 282
References......Page 294
Index of names......Page 326
Index of places......Page 328
Index of subjects......Page 330