Stephen Roman, & Eugen Loebl

The Responsible Society. 1977. dj

From Marx’s kitchenThe Asian Age India Madhuri Santanam Sondhi
More than a century ago, Karl Marx said he did not want any recipes for a kitchen that did not yet exist. Then a kitchen was built in his name in which fascist recipes were, and still are, used. Eugen Loebl

Talking the other day with a young woman who burned with revolutionary ardour when describing the destitution characteristic of Nepal and parts of India, particularly Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, I found myself caught in a time loop. The impassioned critique of capitalism, globalisation and feudalism came straight from the heart, as the frustration with the slow and corrupt processes of Indian democracy. But hard to understand was the faith in communistic solutions, given that among the communist states that survive the ignominious collapse of the Soviet Empire, not one can be cited as a "successful" recipe from Marx's kitchen for re-structuring society, not North Korea, not Cuba, and certainly not China, which endures through heavy imports of capitalism and mild liberalism.

I recalled our meeting in India with Eugen Loebl more than 30 years ago, former minister in the post-war Czech communist government, one of three who miraculously survived the notorious anti-Semitic Slansky trials of 1952. He spent five years in solitary out of eleven in a Marxist jail. A committed communist and revolutionary, he was falsely accused, imprisoned and tortured to confess to imaginary "crimes." During his incarceration, Loebl agonised over what had brutalised and barbarised the system in which he had wholeheartedly believed. He looked beyond human factors and misinterpretations of the canonical truth, to theoretical flaws in the original doctrine which systematically led towards fascism or totalitarianism. When permitted, he meticulously re-read and analysed the complete works of Karl Marx. Forbidden to write, he mentally, paragraph by paragraph, composed and memorised what became a book, published later during the Prague Spring. He participated enthusiastically in the attempt to establish "socialism with a human face" but when the fraternal Warsaw Pact tanks entered Prague, Loebl fled to America, where his book appeared in translation as Humanomics.

In America Loebl spent time on campuses with revolutionary anti-Vietnam coffee-house intellectuals, and wrote up his impressions as Conversations with the Bewildered. The arguments and discontents of these affluent adolescents echoed those of my revolutionary friend and other children of the Indian rich and/or privileged castes. Loebl sympathised with their genuine desire to change an unjust system, but pointed to the flaws in their violent methodology and the system that was to replace it. He offered them three broad interrelated themes; a distinction between pseudo and real revolutions, an analysis of the real motor of economic growth, and the crucial failure of modern economics, whether of the left or right variety, to include normative and cultural considerations in their praxiology.

In India Loebl met with students on the JNU campus — a decade before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Musing over the 1917 events, Loebl suggested that the Russian revolution had been a "pseudo-revolution"; revolutionary in successfully overthrowing the Tsarist regime but "pseudo" in that with its internally flawed theories, it failed to realise its aims. In place of "leadership" it created a "dictatorship" of the proletariat, a euphemism for the dictatorship of a party or a single person with all the negative consequences that follow. He also interacted with Gandhians: he saw Gandhi methodologically as a non-violent revolutionary in his commitment to social change, appreciated his effort to introduce morality as an integral factor in social, economic and political thought, but disagreed with his rejection of industrialisation.

His own examples of true revolutions which have radically transformed society from deep within are the scientific and technological revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, followed by the communications revolution of the last quarter. "In all previous revolutions, the oppressed classes took over from their oppressors: the dictatorship of the old class gave place to that of the new." But, "(T)he technological revolution … has replaced the oppressed class by the natural forces which have been mastered through the genius of the human intellect." Labourers have been liberated from their toil by the invention of machines or "energy slaves." No doubt radical critique has shifted towards the maleficent exploitation of nature with ill effects on natural and human life, but Marx's analysis of economic growth based on exploitation of the labouring classes has been rendered obsolete and irrelevant.

Indeed, Loebl's definition of revolution underscores the argument that it is not surplus labour but brain power as mental innovation, homo sapiens and not homo laborans, which motors economic change, and has been so from the invention of the wheel. Previously, innovations came at a slow pace, and entrepreneurs profited from the exploitation of human labour; but for nearly half a century now, the rapid speed of scientific discovery and its technological applications has made human labour redundant. Ownership of the means of production can be equally retrogressive in private or state hands; today the means of production do not create the superstructure, rather people at the high level of the superstructure create the "material basis of production." Thus social and economic problems can be dealt with through "the growing intellectual capacity of wider classes" which "provide fertile ground for new ideas."

Is this true for countries outside the highly developed world? Before visiting India Loebl thought not, sharing the views of other West European economists who dismissed revolutionary communism as bad for Europe but good for the "backward" or feudal societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. But his three-week Indian visit in 1979 stimulated him to think more innovatively about this society with its interwoven levels of simplicity and sophistication. Instead of a uniform economic policy for the whole country, he toyed with the possibility of several "lucro-active" approaches which could benefit both the mini-producer and the big industrialist.

Loebl critiqued both dirigiste and free market economists for failing to take integral cognisance of the human factor in their theories. In their search for "scientific objectivity," economists overlook real networks of actual living persons with unquantifiable beliefs, norms and choices. To "objectively" condemn percentages of people to unemployment or poverty (through rising prices); to contemplate sacrificing present generations to shining statistics for tomorrow, was to him grossly inhuman, whether from a communist or capitalist perspective. He had explored the possibility of linking economic thinking to the religious values permeating western culture with a Catholic businessman, Stephen Roman: their book, The Responsible Society was republished in India as Alternative to Communism & Capitalism. Looking for a similar dialogue with Hinduism he met with a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission who, however, could not immediately connect Upanishadic spiritualism with an economic dimension. However the monk was deeply impressed with Loebl's stoic fortitude throughout his ordeal, and how he had utilised those punishing years for reflection and constructive thought.

Despite a few anachronisms arising from the times and circumstances in which he wrote, Loebl remains a stimulating and innovative thinker. He was keen to spend more time in India enlarging his economic thinking to encompass the problems of rural development small enterprises, crafts et al. He died, however, a few years later. His definition of the economy as a system of thinking human beings is both a human and an intellectual challenge.
http://www.asianage.com/?INA=2:175:175:138732© 2005 The Asian Age

eSocialSciences

October 2005, New Features: A new section Book Reviews features Goolam Vahed’s review of Uma Duphelia Mistrie’s ‘ Gandhi’s Prisoner? The Life of Gandhi’s son Manilal’ published by Kwela Books, Cape Town. (H-Net Review). Two new journals : Liberation and SEPHIS emagazine have been added to the collection of journals. Feature of the month: Conference blogs to keep you in touch with what’s happening in the meets that you could not attend. Theme of the Month: ‘Women and Health’ featuring a collection of papers echoing the several ongoing and forthcoming conferences and seminars.

Policy Matters: ‘False Dawn on the Budget Front’. A Premchand offers a scholarly note on the Outcome Budget. http://www.esocialsciences.com/Articles/displayArticles.asp?Article_ID=217 Working Papers: Gender and Health: ‘Uncertainty and Discrimination: Family Structure and Declining Sex Ratios in Rural India’ Mattias Larsen, Pernille Gooch and Neelambar Hatti, draw upon preliminary results from recently conducted field studies in rural areas of Karnataka and Uttaranchal to understand why female children continue to be at risk. To be presented at a forthcoming Workshop at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore.[See Announcements] http://www.esocialsciences.com/articles/displayArticles.asp?Article_ID=184
Development Studies:’ Economic Well-Being and Political Action’ Neeraj Hatekar argues that a politics of the deprived, based on an identity of the deprived as deprived is an imperative in relevant policy-making. http://www.esocialsciences.com/articles/displayArticles.asp?Article_ID=187
Poverty and Inequality:’ Spatial inequality and Development ‘ Spatial inequality has added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine stability. Ravi Kanbur and Anthony J. Venables draw on the evidence from the UNU-Wider project, that analyzed evidence on spatial inequalities in over 50 developing countries. http://www.esocialsciences.com/articles/displayArticles.asp?Article_ID=215
Forests and Conservation:‘Multifunctional Agroforestry Systems for Livelihoods’ Deep Narayan Pandey critically examines the success of agroforestry as a traditional land-use adaptation that may support livelihoods improvement. http://www.esocialsciences.com/workingPapers/workingPapersDetails.asp?workingpaperid=15
Health Economics: ‘ Addressing Inequality in Health Care: Financing Strategy’ In a paper to be presented at the forthcoming Forum 9 of Global Forum for Health Ravi Duggal suggests a new financing strategy for health care. http://www.esocialsciences.com/workingPapers/workingPapersDetails.asp?workingpaperid=10
Commentaries An obituary tribute to I.G. Patel and an appreciation of his work by Deena Khatkhate http://www.esocialsciences.com/articles/displayArticles.asp?Article_ID=221
Arup Maharatna warns of the potential danger of ignoring historical arguments on issues such as market, political economy, capital, and labour has great potential danger. http://www.esocialsciences.com/commentaries/CommentariesDetails.asp?commentaryid=10
Ketan Mukhija asks why there are not enough measures to ensure that access to justice is an entitlement and not a subject of charity. http://www.esocialsciences.com/commentaries/CommentariesDetails.asp?commentaryid=11
eSS welcomes working papers , work in progress , notes for discussion. Short topical comment may also be submitted. Conference announcements, Calls for papers, Fellowship and scholarship announcements and job appointments will be posted as soon as they are received. For writing an original Policy note in the Policy Matters section please write to the editor. We will post full issues of any scholarly or activist journal and movement and organisation newsletters. If you would like to review books, please send us your areas of interest and a postal address with the email. eSS is open to suggestions on how to make it more useful to scholars, policy makers and social activists. -- Padma Prakash and the eSS Team

Yoga Party

New political party emphasizing unity rather than division, compassion rather than annihilation. Now only peace and solidarity can overcome the hate and destruction enveloping the world. Through cultivating insight and tranquility only, can life endure. Help me resist the purveyors of hate, death and destruction so that we can all live together in harmony.

I wish the rich well. I understand that the rich suffer as much as anyone else. From a yogic perspective (at least one yogic perspective) we are just acting out our karma and the only thing worth achieving is escaping rebirth, that essentially we are spirit. No harm can come to us as the physical body is only transitory. Nevertheless from this perspective we are very much involved in our lives, we are actors not realizing that we are playing roles, and play these roles we must in order to reach our salvation. And it is a fact that the rich do live longer and the poor die unnecessarily and therefore this is an injustice.

Another perspective put out by the late Sri Aurobindo is that we are not disembodied spirits, but are undergoing a sort of transformation and that even the body is a form of spirit and therefore we are evolving so to speak to a higher level of consciousness. The differences between each other are not so significant, in fact we all represent the same spirit. Since we all are the same spirit (Brahman) it makes sense for all of us to seek this salvation together.

Of course in this capitalistic society we are deluged with the supposed benefits of being of a higher class. Daily we are barraged with advertising to instill in us class consciousness (a false consciousness in which we deny our own interests). These are only images, constructs of selfish interests of the powers that be, that are irrelevant to our moral integrity. Ultimately to get out of this karma or as the buddhists put it, our suffering, we must all join together to escape this karma. Hopefully all will eventually see that struggle is not necessary except to realize our true conscious state of divine being. Only then can we find the way out of the tunnel of darkness. posted by Yoga Party @ 2:50 PM

We need democracy

From: rajudas@yorku.ca To: Sachi sachisatpathy@yahoo.com Subject: Re: Mass movement? Yes. Civil society-based/led mass movement? No! Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005

I agree with Mr. Dubey that a mass movement is exactly what is needed. But I am sorry I am less sanguine about the civil society method than Mr Dubey probably is. Civil society is too civil to clear up the 'nastiness' that underlies the problem of Orissa's and India's under-development. We need a mass movement but one that is not necessarily attached to so-called civil society movements, although they can play a role.

The movement has to be one of the poor peasants and landless rural labourers and urban workers. In plain English, the movement has to be a class-based movement where men and women and children of different castes combine together and fight against the sorts of classes Mr. Dubey refers to. They have to fight against the coalition of proprietary classes (both domestic and international) and their intellectual shield dressed up as professors and cultural people and their people in politics. All these people may be very nice as persons but that is immaterial: they do things that they must because of the way they are inserted into the system. A broad, mass democratic movement [and as far as possible, non-violent movement] to decommodify society is what is needed, a society where right to food, education and other necessities outside of the market and to productive and enjoyable work are basic non-negotiable norms, a society where democracy flourishes in all spheres of life including work and family and within the Assembly/Parliament gate.

No matter how much we beat our heart, if this doesnot happen, if a CLASS-based democratic movement does not happen, Orissa and, with it, all parts of the country that are as under-developed as Orissa is will basically remain what they are. And note that this movement will not be and this cannot be led by so-called non-governmental organizations who are supposedly independent of the government inspite of their financial and other kinds of reliance on it and of market inspite of (e.g.) micro-finance and their enthusiastic promotion of penny capitalism and things like that. As long as Orissa and other parts of India are within the grip of NGO-ism, the possibility of empowerment and democracy is an impossible task.

We need democracy, democracy of the poor, direct democracy, the democracy which the beautiful word 'democracy' originally signified. If the root of the problem is in the ways things [food, clothes,medicine, etc.] are produced [and are distributed] and the social relations around these, the solution is that these have to be changed, and these have to be changed by people who produce these things. Those who work to maintain the system have the power to stop working and thus stop the system from continuing. The system that produces India's millionaires is the same system that produces India's poor. By working, the poor produce the wealth as well as their subordination. It is only they who can stop all that. Can others help a little? Can we help a little? That is the crux of the matter. Raju

Intellectual Satyagraha

Sunday, February 27, 2005

The New Masks Of Colonialism by David Frawley

The Academic Historical Colonialism: Current liberal academicians use it to denigrate Hindu culture as inhumane and promote Western multiculturalism (read Western subordination of other cultures) in India. All have used it to make the dominant Hindu culture of India a historical fraud. Western academicians, and their Indian imitators, rejected the testimony not only of the ancient Rishis and yogis of the country but that of modern sages like Sri Aurobindo, who did not accept this idea. In other words, in interpreting the history of India they simply rejected what the country itself had to say useless, substituting their own voice. Is this not cultural arrogance?

Tuesday, February 25, 2003
India and Globalization by Rajiv Malhotra

Among Western thinkers who have studied Asian philosophies in depth and who have incorporated aspects of the latter into their own thought, a notable modern example is Ken Wilber, whose “Integral Psychology” openly draws upon the work of the Indian thinker Sri Aurobindo. In his early book, The Spectrum of Consciousness (1977),[17] Wilber pointed out the similarities between Asian traditions and various schools of psychology current at the time. He drew attention to the real and valuable contributions to be made by non-Western schools of thought, and in particular those of India.

In this book, as well as in later works such as Transformations of Consciousness,[18] Wilber expanded the scope of modern Western psychology by also including within his schema the supra normal or “transpersonal” states of consciousness described and cultivated by practitioners of India’s meditators and yogis. He showed that Western psychology couldn’t afford to ignore the thousands of years of empirical experimentation in the field of consciousness studies and psychology that has been conducted by these practitioners, albeit under different names. Wilber’s debt to these traditions is particular notable with regard to Sri Aurobindo, who created a schema of states of consciousness. Not fearing to acknowledge his debt to Sri Aurobindo and the Indic traditions, Wilber has generally been quite up front with regard to his use and remodeling of the insights of the Indic traditions. Hopefully, Wilber and many others like him will continue to explore the very fruitful potential for East-West dialogue and exchange, in a respectful and intellectually honest fashion.

Welcome to Catallaxis!

« Welcome to Catallaxis! Main What's in a Name? Catallaxis is a name I invented several years ago through the fusion of two important concepts: catallactics and praxis.

Catallactics is a little-known term that refers to the science of exchanges. Although it is a terrific alternative to the more commonly used market theory, its use seems to have been limited primarily to the great work of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and some of their intellectual descendents. But, as Hayek himself reminded us, the classical Greek term from which it derives, katalattein or katalassein, meant not only to exchange but also to receive into the community and to turn from enemy into friend (Hayek, The Fatal Conceit, p.112). To me, this is suggestive of a deeper, wider meaning for the whole notion of market exchange—one that embraces the traditionally differentiated and increasingly antagonistic economic, social, and political aspects of the market. This is how I use the term.

Praxis is a Greek term in its own right and generally means action, practice or the practical application of theory. It is also used to denote the idea of a theory of practice—that is, a theory of how to design one’s actions in order to achieve certain results. A catallactic praxis, then, may be thought of as a theory of how to participate in the market process or, more generally, as a practical theory of how markets really work.
Thus, catallactics x praxis = catallaxis. Voila.
I know, I know. I need to get out more.
Posted by Daniel O'Connor Permalink

Catallaxis provides a unique integral perspective on the economic issues of the day. In my opinion, the need for such a blog is significant, given the dire state of the economic dialogue across America and throughout much of the world. Most of the participants in this dialogue seem to be polarized around the idea of the market and its perceived role in either resolving or exacerbating a litany of economic problems, from corporate corruption to economic recession to ecological degradation. Evidently, some of these people place a high degree of faith in the market’s ability to solve its own problems, provided that society just leaves it alone to do its work. Others are more skeptical about the market and emphasize the need for social activism, lest the market undermine our social welfare. Whenever economic problems emerge, one group will look for evidence of market failure, while the other group looks to the market for a solution. Predictably, each will tend to suspect the other of some sort of political motivation and, if they’re not careful, the entire economic dialogue is reduced to nothing but a contentious political debate.

A Crisis of Vision »
An introduction to Market Learning: Toward a More Integral EconomicsAt the close of the 20th century, the market economy in America and elsewhere was in the midst of a veritable renaissance. Twenty years of privatization, deregulation, and liberalization had rendered the “stagflation” of the early 1980s a distant memory. During one of the greatest expansions in American economic history, productivity rose to record highs, unemployment fell to record lows, and inflation remained under control. Corporations realigned their strategies and restructured their operations to compete in the new era of globalization. Entrepreneurship flourished through the convergence of innovative new technologies, free-flowing venture capital, and relentless marketing. The mainstream media regaled us with a continuous stream of economic notions, from the iconic CEO to the free-agent worker to the once-and-for-all transcendence of the dreaded business cycle. For the first time ever, it was actually “cool” to be in business and everybody was following the stock market. The market, both as a system and as an idea, stood vindicated.[i]

The economists, politicians, and executives behind this renaissance are united by a well-schooled preference for individual and corporate freedom in a relatively unfettered market economy. They proclaim themselves economic liberals and pay homage to the classical economic philosophy that favors free markets and limited government as essential to both economic growth and social liberty. For reasons that will become clear in a moment, I call them economic libertarians.[ii]

The best of these economic libertarians seem to think that in pursuing market opportunities they are contributing to the development of a civilization. They are indeed. Their record of entrepreneurship and innovation is unparalleled in history and the simple fact that they create so many of the jobs that fund our way of life confirms their value to society. As for the millions of economic libertarians who have never started a company or invented a new technology, the verdict is still positive. With each new market exchange they are creating some small incremental addition to the overall wealth and well-being of our society. Though some struggle just to survive in the market, they staunchly defend its very real virtues, preferring to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps rather than being, as they see it, hoisted by a social safety net.

ORISSA POLITICS

Sentiments and political system are two entirely different things. By expressing our opinion on a few burning issues we can't change the duly elected governments. Rather, we must understand our limitations as hapless citizens. Limited access to the big picure is our bottleneck, and our stake in the debate is dubious. Your portal might appear as a very democratic forum, but the mechanics of politics is much more complex. Tusar N. Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@mail.com Fri Oct 21 15:14:22 EDT 2005

Whether the debate is academic, journalistic, quasi-political or political activism, is what needs to be defined first. For if we are unsure of our objectives, we shouldn't expect matching results. That is, precisely, what has happened in the past over the results of which we are lamenting today. The situation is best expressed in our saying, Bapa pua duhen rati anidra- mugura *#*# mela. Hence, we need be a little bit MBO savvy, at present. Reliance on the Market mechanism rather than the habitual political weapons of the past is the order of the day that warrants serious engagement of our attention. Further, to understand the dynamics of development, David Harvey's Justice Nature and the Geography of Differences is a great help. An informed environment and dispassionate discourse would save us from much agony and ignominy. Fraternally, Marketime 241005.

Thanks to Ken Wilber, integralism is a popular thesis now. The film, Matrix helped to drive the concept home. Internet, itself, is a live instance of interconnectedness. Therefore, it would be prudent to locate this discussion on Orissa within a holistic framework. For, paradigms of prosperity and development are always shifting, cyclical or evolutionary. Just like personal finance, the economy of a state, too, is relative; and it has a unique function like a particular organ of a body. Orissa has many defficiencies, but far greater excellences. Our social capital is our core competence which is respected everywhere. I am proud of the fact that more than 500 Integral schools are operating in Orissa, which has no parallel in any other state or country. It is time, we must leverage our cultural capital. IT-lag could be amply compensated through, say, hospitality and services. But again it all depends upon Georaphy and Logistics, as Harvey would infer, and not simply on politics. South Delhi, South Kolkata and South Mumbai are more prosperous than their northern counterparts; becase of Geography, not merely politics. 251005

SAM PITRODA

The Indian Express
Friday, October 07, 2005

In a society still riddled with centuries-old
Prejudices, stereotypes, caste system and rituals
We need continuous intervention of a force
To empower people that is non-political,
Non-judgmental, non-denominational and rational.

To me technology is that force. It brings access
To modern tools and methods to increase productivity
And efficiency at reduced costs. It is an
Entry point to bring about generational changes
Being born underprivileged it opened doors for me
It erased my caste and empowered me to upward
Mobility. Technology is a great social leveller.

It is by no means an end in itself. It is about
Designing more efficient tools for the country
When people talk of technology they invariably
Think of computers, satellites, aircraft and other gadgets
To me technology is problem solving. It is about
Doing things differently. It is about change in mindset
Processes, products and preferences. Technology
Is about opportunities and experiences.

Many confuse new technology with labour displacement
As opposed to labour retraining and readjustment
We must change our age old processes and practices
With new knowledge and new understanding of the
Ever changing competitive nature of the global market
Success has given us confidence, connectivity
With emphasis on innovations and entrepreneurship.

True knowledge can empower people at all levels
To change their mindset from negative cynicism
To positive optimism with hope for the limitless
Opportunities in this ever changing world. It can make
Our people aware of their rights and responsibilities
To me the key to empowering people is to
Provide knowledge, tools, technology and techniques.

The invisible hand

Capitalism and the much-maligned, ‘Market’ might denote the epitome of materialism, but the dynamics of market and the propensity of its participants points towards one of the highest principles of spirituality. While the modernity project of Socialism aims at a regulated economy and directed history, Capitalism demands a hands-off approach by those at the helms.

The market-dictated regime-- far from being deterministic, as it sounds—is absolutely aloft on probabilities, uncertainties and the unpredictable. Thus, the contingent and the precarious character of outcomes leaves the individual endeavour almost at the mercy of the unforeseen/Unseen. And, therefore, the shrewd operator learns to believe less on his own prudence than the ordained/unpredictable dispensation. Perforce, he looks up to providence than his own autonomy and sovereignty.

Economy, like ecology, is an interplay of a complex tapestry driven by incessant logistics. While the notion of the market salutes its own supremacy, it abhors other interventions. But then, can any other interpolation—state or non-state—come sans the sanction of the greater Logistics, the larger Market?

The head of a party

BJP is a party in search of a new president now, but the whole episode is shrouded in mystery. The reason behind this sorry spectacle lies in our very perception of leadership in a democratic setting. Our Constitution, too, plays an ambivalent role here. It specifies that the leader of the party elected to power would form the government. But the chief executives of various parties have different designations, viz., chairman, president, general secretary, convener, co-coordinator etc. The problem arises when the leader of the party becomes PM or CM and a lightweight is elevated to fill the post of the head of the party.

There are certain supposed norms like, ‘one-man-one-post’ and 'separation of party and government affairs'. So, once in the government, the distance between the leader of the party and the head of the party increases leading to rivalry. When no more in power, the leader of the party wants to become the head of the party again. These kinds of simple problems can be easily settled if proper systems are put in place.

Can equity & development coexist?

The Economic Times
Friday, September 30, 2005

Compromising on efficiency can hurt growth
Arup Mitra
Professor, Institute of Economic Growth

It is seemingly legitimate and logical to say, as does the World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development (World Bank), that greater equity can reduce poverty, enhance economic growth and advance development. But the trade-offs between equity and efficiency can sometimes be high. Also, compromising on efficiency can hurt growth not just in the short run, but over the long run too. So the central contention that neither growth nor equity is attainable without efficiency, holds despite WDR 2006’s contention that the inequality of opportunities underutilises human potential, leads to extreme deprivation and weakens growth prospects. The divergence of growth rates seem to have started in the ’90s, leading rich states to grow faster than relatively poorer ones. They grow faster as they have better infrastructure and meet other prerequisites; they can thus also attract FDI, gain from economic reforms and energise overall growth.

But growth would be immediately dampened if equity got precedence and distorted natural market responses. The losses arising from that would not be compensated even over the long term by a more equitable distribution of resources.

The principle of ‘agglomeration economies’ also suggests that firms in large cities are more efficient than their small town counterparts. Hence it may be counterproductive to push policies that curb locational concentration in favour of a spatially ‘equitable’ industrial spread. Firms, instead, would gain by reaping the advantages of agglomeration in an increasingly more competitive world. Concentration will hike efficiency and competitiveness — as scale economies slash costs, motivate price cuts and competitive trading. Finally, equity-targeted outgoes on health, education or poverty reduction can be sustained only after growth attains high levels. Forcing through efficiency losses before that can leave the economy in a stagflationary state, and militate against poverty removal. That is because deficit financed transfers will nullify the potential of development programmes aiming at equity. In short, efficiency must get priority even if it initially exacerbates inequality.

Markets fail the efficiency test in real life

P Chaudhury

Professor CESP, JNU

It is often argued in economic theory that it is impossible to simultaneously achieve efficiency and equity in the development process. But, looking closer at the World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development, equity can mean different things to different people. Economists now define equity as ‘non-envy’ — or, an allocation under which no individual envies another. Economic theory also shows there is no way of achieving an equitable and desirable (or Pareto-efficient) allocation in an economy wherein some are more productive than others. (A resource allocation is said to be Pareto-efficient if it meets given constraints and also if no one can be made better off by altering the state of affairs while satisfying the same constraints.) Economic theory also shows that none of the equilibria that exist need be Pareto-efficient if the economic environment is characterised by increasing returns to scale, externalities in production and consumption, non-convexities in consumption, and indivisibilities.

The efficiency of the economic system is, thus, not guaranteed in any realistic situation — except in an idealised market-driven model of a competitive economy. Hence, no theory can support the overlooking of equity on efficiency grounds. It is, moreover, thus because markets, in real life, fail to achieve efficiency while governments do not pursue equity.

Yet, equity is even more relevant today than ever before. The pursuit of market-led, ‘efficient’, growth over the past two centuries has so degraded the environment that it threatens the very existence of life on earth. Ever-increasing inequalities have led to greater social discontent and hiked the incidence of crime. So the case for equity is based on common sense: a society that prioritises poverty eradication and employment creation, targets health, promotes literacy and allocates resources for the provision of food, clothing, shelter, health and education for all will achieve a higher level of happiness and harmony than another which attaches priority to the production of luxuries and newer methods of mass destruction.

FRANGOIS BOURGUIGNON AND SHANTAYANAN DEVARAJAN

The Times of India
Friday, September 23, 2005


Last week's United Nations World Summit focused attention on the plight of poor countries. To reduce poverty, should these countries focus on faster growth or on reducing economic disparities? Is economic growth faster with high or low inequality? The World Bank's 2006 World Development Report, Equity and Development, makes the case that this commonly-asked question is misguided. In the long term, efficiency and equity are complements, not substitutes.

Equity is not the same as equality. By equity we mean equality of opportunities, where opportunities are the factors that make it possible for people to generate a certain income and achieve a certain level of well-being. In an equitable society, all have the same opportunities to pursue a life of their choosing, whether this in terms of acquiring an education, obtaining credit, finding a job or participating in the public debate, regardless of their country of birth, the wealth and social status of their parents, or their gender, race, caste, ethnicity or social class. The distribution of incomes, education levels, wealth and other assets will typically be unequal in an equitable society, because people differ in the effort they make, in their desire to bear risks, or in the way they process information. Such inequality of incomes is not only acceptable, but often desirable for the incentives it provides.

What is not acceptable is inequality that derives from lack of opportunities and discrimination. A lower-caste girl born in the slums of Mumbai faces a grim future, unlike a boy born to university-educated parents in a well-heeled neighbourhood of the same city, or the vast majority of people born in the developed world. Citizens of developed countries live on average about 20 years longer, get at least six more years of schooling and have better health, and choose from a wide range of options to fulfil their potential than their peers in low-income countries. While there is no systematic relation-ship between income inequality and growth, in the WDR 2006 we argue that equity and growth are, in the long run, complementary. Greater equity fosters greater prosperity.

There are two main reasons why equity is good for growth.

• First, lack of opportunities harms initiative and deprives societies of the talent and efforts of some of its members. A poor woman who would like to set up a small shop will generally have a hard time finding credit and may never start the business. Bright children from disadvantaged castes may never get a chance to go to school. More equal access to credit, education, insurance, and so on would lead to greater growth.
• Second, equity is good for growth because societies with an equitable distribution of resources tend to have more equitable political arrangements, where a majority of the citizens, and not just an elite, parti-cipate directly or indirectly in public decision-making.

In turn, societies with more equitable political systems have better economic institutions — for example, better protection of personal and property rights, greater rule of law, less corruption — that lead to faster growth. This is illustrated powerfully by the contrasting historical experiences of North and South America.

If equity is such a good thing, then why are many societies deeply inequitable? Societies that start off with an inequitable distribution of resources tend to put in place inequitable economic and political institutions. So inequity is perpetuated across generations, because elites control power and capture the benefits from economic activities. This is not only unjust; it is economically inefficient. Elites that capture power to their own benefit prevent large parts of the population from realising their economic potential. While history is important in deter-mining equity, change is possible. Indeed, history is full of examples of governments effecting change, spontaneously when reforms good for both equity and efficiency are available, or in response to political changes.

Where there is a political base for action, many policies and programmes can extend opportunities to the poor. But expanding equity so as to foster growth can also require actions that limit elite capture: Opening up the financial system, reducing the concentration of market power in certain sectors, controlling the negative consequences of corporatism, ensuring transparency and accountability of government action at the central and local level, and so on. These recommendations apply to poor and rich countries alike, but rich countries have the additional responsibility to support reform of global markets to stop discrimination against poor countries, and reform of global governance to give them greater voice and participation. The debates during last week's UN summit, as well as uncertainties over the Doha "development" round, underline the need for the rich countries to sustain their commitment to a more equitable world.

Bourguignon is chief economist, World Bank. Devarajan is the Bank's chief economist, South Asia Region.

Equity and development

NEERAJ KAUSHAL
Economic Times

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2005

Sixty-one years after its birth, the World Bank has at last paid its due to equality. In the 2006 World Development Report, the Bank finally concedes that reducing inequality is “necessary for greater economic prosperity in the long term.” From “Plan to Market” in 1996 to “Equity and Development” in 2006, the World Development Report (WDR) has come a long way.

• Does this mean the Bank will impose “conditionalities” such as a more equal distribution of income or equal opportunities for education and employment to the next recipient of its loans?
• Will countries be asked to provide equal opportunities even if that means a slightly higher fiscal deficit?
• Will governments be asked to spend a minimum proportion of budget on health and education?
• Will the Bank change loan “conditionalities” so that poor countries attain UN millennium goals to reduce poverty, bring gender equality, improve mother and child health?
• For the sake of equality, will Bank president Paul Wolfowitz ask his former boss George Bush to increase America’s aid to poor countries?

With more than a modicum of certainty we can say that none of this will happen. For the WDR 2006 represents the thinking of Bank staff, and not the thinking of the countries that run the Bank.

Penury Perpetuates Poverty

# posted by Robert Leggett

So...you might just believe I hide behind computers creating and updating my websites and researching potential markets. Well... I love to spend time "in the street"... "under fire"... where the "action is." As a copywriter wannabe... and I'm learning much... I talk to many people on the street as well as business owners. As a "hands-on" direct marketer, I pass out a lot of publicity pieces... and get a lot of feedback.Recently... I spoke with the manager of a very "posh" restaurant. The publicity pieces they were distributing to the general public reminded me of the bad olde days prior to computers... where everything was "cut and paste" by hand. This was perhaps the worst PR piece I'd ever seen. It was even printed on the cheapest colored paper... which fades after 30 minutes exposure to the sunshine. Yet the establishment looked great... great ambience... great location... great menu... great drinks... great! It also seemed empty most of the time. Why? The owner is a "penny pincher."There is a huge difference between temporarily having to be overly frugal and possessing a locked-in penurious mind-set. You can tighten your belt during hard times by being frugal. No matter whether times are good or bad... the penurious are always in a sad state... never having... or enjoying any abundance... which never seems to come their way.Obviously... there is no business to be done here. My energy is better spent on the wannabe "movers and shakers."I've been working with a very frugal client. His business has tremendous growth potential. He has a "killer" logo he didn't know he had. We worked hard on a "killer" slogan which can be modified to push whichever product/service he is offering at any time. While there isn't much remuneration possible at this time... I hope he becomes a long-term client. He is willing to try something different. He is frugal... but far from penurious.Over the years, I have discovered certain truisms that work for me... my unfolding perception of "reality."

One of these truisms is My reality follows my mind! If I "think" limited, my reality is limited. If I dare to dream, by golly those dreams materialize in time. My quest for "reality" really consciously began about 1969 when I became very dissatisfied with what was happing to me in my little world. I had a penurious mind-set and I saw very little hope of ever rising above my status at that time. Well... I still have to be frugal... but there is always glorious hope I'll do better. And... over the years... I have!It is all too easy to become frustrated trying to become successful... especially over the Internet. Whether in real or cyber, it is vital you decide what you want. Focus on it. Strive for it. If you reach a true dead-end... look around... find your next dream. Oftentimes in striving for a dream... a better one surfaces. Yes... you will have to be frugal at times... sometimes too many times. As long as you do not fall into the self-imposed "hell" of a penurious mind-set, you will eventually succeed. Look for positive aids to boost your mind and emotions in a positive direction. I have discovered what works for me. You are also very individual and will find what works for you at any moment. Go for it!—Robert Leggett serves individuals and business owners globally. He helps them grow their business and enrich their lifestyles.

Article Archives: www.CyberspaceMarketeer.com

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Asian Age

New Delhi, June 12, 2005
"JD-U is the Jinnah winner"
By Arati R. Jerath

Commented By Tusar N. Mohapatra - on 6/17/2005 9:31:51 PM

The genesis of the seemingly crisis dogging the BJP today can be traced to a decade or so back. It was George Fernandes, who, from the secular camp, first befriended the BJP untouchables and seduced them onto the path to power. By shedding its three stings, BJP was emasculated enough not to fermnt further religious hatred. Obviously, Gujarat was an embarassment.The present Jinnah episode is only leading to a climax as directed by George Fernandes. Fernandes is the Trojan Horse and has a hidden agenda.By transforming the BJP and its top leaders, he has done a yeoman's sevice to his fellow countrymen.Whether or not he has followed the narrow path hewed by his leader, Lohia, he has saved the country from enormous communal turmoil. So, Fernandes is the most deserving candidate for the BHARAT RATNA award.

Swaminathan S. A. Aiyer
The Times of India
June5, 2005

Adam Smith would have smiled at the way outsourcing equates the private profit of MNCs with the public interest of a poor developing country. It is a succinct demonstration of his theory of the ‘invisible hand’ which, in competitive conditions converts private profit into social good.

Gurcharan Das
The Times of India
June5, 2005

India’s rising prosperity is due to the liberal global order….. Ironically, it was Marx who first predicted that the inexorable march of technology and capital would deserve all feudal, religious, and national barriers. Now that it is happening, it is the west that is complaining.

Vir Sanghvi

The Hindustan Times

July 25, 2004

Nandan Nilekani’s reasoning is simple. He believes, he says, that the market is a far more efficient way of allocating resources than, say, a centralized bureaucracy. But, he also adds, there will be times when the market will make certain individuals incredibly wealthy, not because they are the very best but because they happen to be in the right place at the right time…..

In such a situation, Nandan argues, anybody who makes so much money because of a quirk of the market system, has an obligation to give much of it back to society….In the US, for instance, nearly all the first generation entrepreneurs gave chunks of their fortunes to public causes….. It was only because they showed themselves willing to share their wealth with society that capitalism and the free market won the faith of the rest of the American people. Till then, all the first generation millionaires had risked being seen as robber barons.

Arun Maira

The Economic times

June 9, 2005

Firstly, it must accept that trade, business, and the economy are not the be-all and end- all of life. Social and political aspirations are part of reality too. Secondly, a just system must be based on the ' self-evident principle'. The US Founding Fathers laid down, that all people are "endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights" even if they are not equally rich or equally powerful. This principle is the heart of the democratic ideal to take civilization to a higher order.

Ila Patnaik

Book Review, EYE

The Indian Express

August 1, 2004

Globalization is the catchy word that has been given to the global movements of ideas, capital, goods and people. It is one of the most powerful forces reshaping our planet. All of us can remember a time when foreign goods were smuggled, foreign travel was a rarity, foreign books and magazines were hard to come by, where ISD calls required spending Rs 120 per minute, and where email did not exist. While that world is inexorably gone, there is considerable debate on whether its demise was a good thing. Two prominent recent books have pondered the issues: one by Joseph Stiglitz, titled Globalization and Its Discontents, and the more recent book by Jagdish Bhagwati titled In Defense of Globalization.

Stiglitz is a Nobel Laureate, for his brilliant work on the economics of information. Bhagwati is very likely to get a Nobel Prize, for his brilliant work on trade theory and the political economy of economic development. It may be said that he translated a ringside view of the cancerous growth of the Indian state in the 1960s into a Nobel prize.The two books are sometimes caricatured in the press as representing opposite viewpoints. Bhagwati is portrayed as an ‘‘orthodox economist’’ (if there can be such a thing), and Stiglitz as a renegade and an iconoclast. Upon reading both books, I certainly did not come away with such a feeling. I found much wisdom and insight in both books, and felt that both authors would agree with each other about the impact of the mobility of goods, capital, labour and technology. These may be summed up as follows.

• One, the movement of ideas is good: our lives are better off because we learned about vaccination or spark plugs.
• Two, the movement of capital is good: the growth of a poor country is hastened when foreigners bring capital in.
• Three, the movement of goods is good. This is the only subtle piece, where economic logic takes us a bit beyond common sense. Sometimes, we believe that trade cannot take place between two countries when one is superior to the other in the productivity of making all goods. But this proves to not be the case. Even though Bangladesh may be impoverished, trade between India and Bangladesh benefits both. Even though Bihar may appear to have nothing to offer to Maharashtra, trade between Bihar and Maharashtra makes both better off. “Gains from trade” is a profound insight of economics.
• Finally, the movement of people is good. Whether Indian workers go to the US, or US worker migrate to India, in either case, both countries are enriched by these transfers.

Jagdish Bhagwati has written an impassioned and rich account of these ideas, and their critics, directed at a western mass audience. But the issues have limited resonance in India, where a ‘‘large mass of opponents of globalisation’’ do not exist. There are idealistic young people in the West who believe (however wrongly) that when FIIs buy shares in Bharti Telecom, or Hutchison runs a phone company in India, it hurts Indian interests. As Bhagwati points out, these young people tend to be educated in English or Art or French literature, and hence lack an understanding of the issues. His book is primarily targeted at such young enthusiastic people whose social concerns have outstripped their knowledge. The Indian situation is different, where western-style NGOs, which he discusses at length, are absent. In India, debates about economic policy have coalesced into two camps. On one hand is the mainstream, where most people embrace globalization. They are happy with FDI if it brings more jobs, improves the quality of the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the phones they use. They are happy with trade if it brings competition and pushes down the prices of goods they buy.

On the other had are sections of the left and the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and the RSS, who have deeply held beliefs of the exact opposite nature. In general, they are suspicious of globalization and want the government to refrain from international trade, keep out foreign capital and western technology. Domestic capitalists, of course, have a vested interest that these barriers to globalization are put up and they lobby for them. They are the biggest gainers in a closed economy. Bhagwati’s book can help illuminate this Indian discourse, to the extent that people with left and right leanings will read his book. He also addresses the impact of globalisation on social issues like child labour, gender relations, culture, environmental damage, labour standards and poverty. For any reader who wants a full-fledged analytical and historical inquiry into the fascinating impact of globalization, the book is highly recommended.

Calling India's Freethinkers

Meera Nanda

The Hindu, May 22, 2004

A principled insistence on drawing clear distinctions between science and religion is crucial in India.

Murli Manohar Joshi has learned the hard way that astrology does not work after all. The will of the Indian voters has overturned the alignment of auspicious stars in the astrological charts of the BJP, just as it has defied the numerology of the pollsters. Indian voters have thrown out the obscurantist-in-chief and the party he represented. Even though most of the 370-million-strong voters did not consciously set out to punish the BJP for its obscurantist cultural and educational policies, they have inadvertently created the conditions where secularism has a second chance to succeed. This by itself is reason enough to cheer and hope.

But it is also a time to reflect and reaffirm the role of rationalism in the Indian society. Sure, throwing out the peddlers of superstitions is no mean task. But harder still is the task of creating a society where superstitions lose their hold on the public imagination. Ridding the government of those who would freely and arbitrarily mix science and spirituality is undoubtedly a great achievement. But greater still is achieving a society that has internalised the principle of separation between science and spirituality. Without this deeper secularisation of the cultural commonsense of the Indian people, secularism will remain a shallow legalism, forever at the risk of a saffron take-over.

This is where the intellectuals come in: the Indian voters have done their part, now the intellectuals must do theirs. Secular-minded citizens, scientists, writers, intellectuals, and the liberal, forward-looking clergy of all faiths will have to join the battle for a deeper secularisation of the Indian society. Scientists will have to step out of their laboratories and humanists will have to give up their haughty disdain for modernity. Those Left-inclined intellectuals seeking a "third position" between wholesale Westernisation and a nostalgic traditionalism will have to get over their preoccupation with cleansing modern science of its Eurocentrism. It is time for a no-nonsense commitment to the much-trashed idea of "scientific temper."

The objective of a genuine and sustainable secularisation is not to denigrate the religious impulses of ordinary people — that would be foolish, because all societies need a sense of the sacred in order to celebrate the rhythms of life and death. The purpose of secularisation is not to hasten the disappearance of the sacred, but to keep it within the limits of reason. In the case of Hinduism, secularisation must involve a critical engagement with those aspects of Hindu sacred teachings that make empirical claims regarding the presence of a disembodied spiritual element in nature "seen" in the mind's eye by mystics and yogis.

The fact is that people everywhere need a way to reconcile their faith with modern learning driven by science and technology. Fundamentalists (and unfortunately, many postmodernist defenders of "alternative epistemologies" as well) offer one way to reconcile faith with science: they relativise science and, in effect, declare religious cosmologies to be as rational within their own assumptions, as modern science is within its own materialistic and Western (or "Semitic") context. This road leads to Vedic sciences and the phony Hindutva slogans of "all truths being different only in name." Indian secularists have to offer a more honest way to reconcile Hinduism with modern science. They must refuse the cheap comforts of relativism. They must insist that all truths are not equal. In the name of respecting popular religiosity, they must not close their eyes to the glaring contradictions between what we scientifically know about how nature actually works, and what our sacred books, our gurus and our godmen preach.

The first challenge before India secularists is to carefully but firmly un-twine the wild and uncontrolled intertwining of science and spirituality that has been going on in Hinduism since the time of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th century. Public intellectuals, in collaboration with progressive scientists, will have to explain — over and over again, through demonstrations and argument — why modern science is not another name for the same truths known to our Vedic forefathers. Indeed, Indian secularists will have to challenge the deep-seated and self-serving habit of Hindu apologists to draw wild parallels and equivalence between just about any shloka from the Vedas and the laws of quantum mechanics and other branches of modern science. The second challenge will be to bring what we know about the natural world through science to bear upon the cosmological assumptions of such "Vedic sciences" as astrology, vaastu, Ayurveda, yagnas, Vedic creationism, "consciousness studies" and the like. Indian secularists must sow seeds of doubt in the popular imagination about these "sciences" so that the masses reject the worldview of Hindutva on rational grounds.

A principled insistence on drawing clear distinctions between science and religion is crucial in India because Hinduism maintains a grip on this-worldly affairs by claiming to be "just another name" for science and reason. Hindu gurus and godmen stake a claim to extraordinary and extra-constitutional powers not by invoking God's commandments or by a literal reading of a sacred book — such stratagems are easy to laugh off in this day and age. Hindu apologists instead stake a right to intervene in secular matters by claiming for Hinduism a rational and empirical "holistic" knowledge of the "higher" and "subtle" levels of the material world. Indeed, even a cursory reading of the voluminous writings of Murli Manohar Joshi, K.S. Sudarshan (or any number of RSS ideologues), David Frawley, Subhash Kak, N.S. Rajaram and the host of other apologists associated with the Ramakrishna Mission and Aurobindo Ashram can show that Hinduism's unique "scientificity" constitutes the central dogma of Hindutva.

Hindutva ideologues stake their claims to make "Hindu India" into a "guru of nations" on the notion that only Hinduism is compatible with modern science, while all the "Semitic" faiths have been proven to be false by modern science. Hindutva's self-serving and entirely fallacious equation of Hinduism with modern science — Hindutva's central dogma — can be summarised as follows:

Hindu dharma is rooted in the eternal, holistic or non-mechanistic laws of nature discovered "in a flash" of insight by the "Vedic Aryans." These laws have been affirmed by modern science and therefore, Hinduism is uniquely scientific. Because the Hindus live in accord with a scientifically proven order of nature which unifies matter with higher levels of spirit, they are more rational and ecological as compared to those of Abrahamic faiths who derive their moral laws from an imaginary supernatural being, and who treat nature as mere matter, devoid of spiritual meaning. Because Hinduism is so scientific, there is no need for an Enlightenment style confrontation between faith and reason in India. To become truly and deeply scientific, Indians — indeed, the entire world — must embrace the teachings of the Vedas and Vedanta.

It was this central dogma that gave Dr. Joshi and his fellow travellers the chutzpah to install departments of Vedic astrology in public universities, to pour taxpayers' money into every superstition under the sun, and to try to take over public institutions like IITs and IIMs. It should now become the first order of business of Indian intellectuals to demolish this central dogma. We must demolish this dogma not because we do not want India to shine and prosper and take its rightful place in the community of nations.

• We must demolish this dogma because it is based upon false parallels and correspondences between modern science and Vedic metaphysics.
• We must demolish this dogma because it denies the existence of deeply oppressive superstitions, including the occult notion of the presence of consciousness in matter.
• And we must demolish this dogma because of its deeply Hindu and Aryan supremacist overtones.

This dogma can only be demolished by drawing clear distinctions between scientific evidence and the evidence of religious and/or mystical experience. Clarifying what is science and what is superstition must become the top priority of India's freethinkers.

Paradigm shift

Ranjit Hoskote

The Hindu, May 3, 2005

Prophets Facing Backward

Postmodernism, Science and Hindu Nationalism

By Meera Nanda

This book is a thoughtful and provocative examination of the stratum of thought and belief that underlies the intolerant hyper-nationalism of the Hindu Right. What distinguishes Meera Nanda's book, however, is her courageous and uncompromising demonstration, from a modernist and Leftist viewpoint, of the unfortunate ideological overlap that conjoins Hindutva with some elements of the postmodernist Left, especially in its eco-feminist form. In doing so, Nanda delineates both what she terms the "reactionary modernism" of the Hindu Right, as well as the knee-jerk rejection of the supposedly colonialist and patriarchal premises of the Enlightenment that has led many postmodernists to throw the babies of science and rationality out with the bathwater of European modernity.

Ideological overlap: A scrupulous scholar, the author does not make sweeping generalisations that could blur the differences between right- wing and left-wing post-colonialism. She makes a specific distinction between the "cruder varieties of gender and Third Worldist essentialism in the writings of some postcolonial theorists" and the more carefully nuanced constructions of subalternity, marginality or resistance subjectivity as outcomes of specific confrontations between consciousness and circumstances, rather than hereditary or native identities.

That said, Nanda argues convincingly that the rampant relativism of the postmodernist — in which every society is seen to have its own rules of rationality, its own logic of historical progression and conception of truth — is not so different from the grounds that the proponents of Hindutva adduce in support of their own project. Both the postmodernist and the Hindutva proponent dismiss the possibility of universal measures of judgment for truth, justice, compassion and advancement. Thus, relativism cloaks the most arbitrary, unreasonable and violent impositions in a postcolonial context; because the absence of any common point of reference allows the most belligerent discourse to lay down the rules, justifying them with the scripture of "de-colonisation".

Paradigm of modernity: This situation is complicated, as Nanda points out, because Hindutva's champions have always been obsessed with validating their absurdities by reference to modern science. Since science, with its rationality, method and verifiability, formed the key paradigm of modernity, the Hindu Right has felt obliged either to challenge or subsume it. Thus, Hindutva imagines modernity as an incorporated past discovered afresh after centuries of enforced amnesia, while dismissing actual modernity as evidence of alienation, Westernisation or undesirable urbanisation.

It might be argued, of course, that such an attitude also grew out of the injured pride of a colonised people, who then claimed that all the fruits of modernity had been available to them in the dim past. Hence the frequently heard assertion that nuclear weapons, advanced mathematics and aerodynamic transport systems were known in Vedic times. Such popular delusions were encouraged both by mystical nationalist movements like the Arya Samaj and by alternative religiosities like those of the syncretistic and utopian Theosophical Society. Nanda draws a line of descent connecting both the Hindu Right and the more unnuanced forms of environmental resistance and feminist rhetoric with the various identitarian, racist or authenticist movements of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, which arose out of the anxieties of runaway industrialisation, sprawling urban growth and the alienation of the self from the protocols of labour and governance.

Perils of `retrievalism' : The book is a compelling account of the perils of what may be called retrievalism, the attempt to fabricate a new world on the basis of seemingly relevant elements from a lost time. The present reviewer has, elsewhere, described this phenomenon as a "radical counter-modernity: tradition treated, not as a past to be regained, but as a special form of modernity, a wager on an alternative future." Nanda's meticulously textured study invites us to consider what the future of such alternative futures can be, when they rest on dangerously inflammable assumptions. Can feminism, predicated as it is on the autonomy of the female subject from the structure of restrictions built up over the centuries, usefully adapt forms and values from peasant histories of messianic resistance that, however emancipatory they may have been for men, were oppressive to women? Can ecological activists romanticise the subaltern past merely because it is subaltern, glorious in its naïve pre-modernity?

The desire to retrieve the efficacies of "local knowledge" can lead to ambivalent results. It results in an excess of political correctness on the postmodernist Left, as when the virtues of specific ethnosciences are celebrated over the homogenising effects of modern science. It also permits the Right to elevate mantic practices to the level of academic disciplines, without bothering with empirical demonstration. At their extreme, some varieties of environmental and feminist activism become conflatable with some of Hindutva's social mobilisations.

Plea for critical sensibility: The book is a passionately argued plea for the preservation of the critical sensibility. Such a sensibility must defend itself from the expected quarters, the Right, but also secure itself against (un)friendly fire from the Left. Through her exploration of Dr. Ambedkar's project of combining a socially oriented Buddhism with the optimistic pragmatism of Dewey, Nanda also draws attention to a crucial but overlooked path to an Indian modernity. Ambedkar is often narrowly viewed as a Dalit messiah; in truth, his emancipatory vision embraced the totality of the Indian experience, and stands solidly as an alternative to the Gandhian, Nehruvian and Tagorean visions. Unfortunately, his vision has also been betrayed by Dalit activists who confine themselves to idealising Dalit "difference" as an end in itself, rather than as the beginning of a self-transformative process.

Nanda does not despair of science as a mode that articulates such a self-transformative process. She demonstrates the fatuity of treating European rationality and modern science as irredeemable instruments of repression in themselves, merely because they were institutionalised in the colonies by a repressive colonial regime. Surely a more reflective and constructive critique of their instrumentalisation is called for, rather than a dismissal tout court? Her book reminds us that such a dismissal would leave us at the mercy of the demons of repression, while denying us the liberal and liberating energies of a self-reflexive and non-dogmatic scientific approach.

Dhiren Bhagat

Inkslinging Imprint, August 1983
Today he (N. J. Nanporia) spends his time writing an absolutely trashy column for Mid-day, ‘Strictly Personal’ and occasionally he takes up his dull books column on the Sunday Reviews books page. No examples are needed to convey the sheer tedium of NJN’s column: anyone who spent six months walking in the Sahara will know what I’m talking about.

Why Shourie Can’t Think Straight The Sunday Observer, December 12, 1982
Shourie is marked by his motives. Shourie’s work is often praised as insurgency journalism but… I don’t believe that mere insurgency is his motive. Perhaps the most dangerous fault in Shourie’s prose is the pseudo-scientific vocabulary he liberally uses which has the effect of dressing a dubious proposition to appear as authoritative…. Another careless feature of Shourie’s style is the frequent abstraction of types from individuals… Now a man who reduces to types nearly half the human beings he speaks of can at best be said to possess a partial vision…
Power and violence are often confused. So it is not surprising that many whose reading is confined to the daily newspaper feel that Shourie has a powerful style. What Shourie has is a bag of tricks that makes his prose more powerful than Girilal Jain’s if only because it is that much more violent. Here is a sequence from Shourie’s hatchet job… First the shrill question, a rhetorical device with which Shourie hectors the reader. Then the heavy exclamation mark... followed by a violent, clichéd metaphor. Most of Shourie’s violence is a tired violence in …. rusty prose... If rust could fight wrought Shourie would have solved all the national problems during his stint at the Express.

Khushwant: RIP The Sunday Observer, February 13, 1983
I was saddened to read that Khushwant Singh passed away in his sleep last week. What a quiet end for so loud a man. How the gods mocked the mocking…. As Khushwant once said, the obituary is the best place to tell the truth for dead men file libel suits. (An agnostic to the end he didn’t believe in the Resurrection.)

Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism? Demolishing a Myth

EPW Special Article
November 8, 2003
M V Nadkarni


This paper, citing evidence from the ancient scriptures, attempts to establish that Hinduism – its vedic and classic variants – did not support the caste system; it rigorously opposed it in practice and principle. Even after the emergence of the caste system, Hindu society still saw considerable occupational and social mobility. Moreover, Hinduism created legends to impress on the popular mind the invalidity of the caste system – a fact further reinforced by the constant efflorescence of reform movements throughout history. The caste system survived in spite of this because of factors that ranged from the socio-economic to the ecological, which helped sustain and preserve balance among communities in a non-modern world. …

I reject totally the myth that caste system forms an integral part of Hinduism… Hinduism can be defined, as Gandhiji did, as search for truth, non-violence, compassion for all beings and tolerance. Consistent with its commitment to search for truth, it is also marked by liberalism. Hinduism is a dynamic religion, not fixed or revealed once for all, and hence cannot be identified exclusively with the religion of the Vedas and Upanishads, nor with the religion expounded by ‘Dharmashastras’, nor with the Hinduism of the three eminent Acharyas – Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, nor also exclusively with medieval Hinduism and modern Hinduism.

All these phases represent Hinduism, and have contributed to its development. Moreover, there is no disjointedness between different phases of Hinduism, each deriving its inspiration from the previous ones. In that sense, there is both change and continuity in Hinduism. Since however, it is accepted by all as beyond controversy that medieval Bhakti movement was a protest against caste system and since it is equally well known that modern Hinduism as explained by Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and others also has rejected caste system, the focus of this paper is on previous or classical phases of Hinduism.

Because of mobility, there was no unanimity about which caste is above which caste, because each considered itself superior to the other. They competed with others in observance of purity rules to show that they were superior to others. Thus, quite a few castes considered themselves to be kshatriyas, while upper castes considered them to be shudras. To gain a higher rank in the caste system, they practised what the upper castes practised, like upanayana (sacred thread ceremony), and even certain ‘homas’ and pujas. Such attempts are called as sanskritisation by M N Srinivas (1977), through which eventually several castes gained in caste status. Sanskritisation as a process through which whole castes gained in caste status could not have been a purely 20th century phenomenon, though scholarly attention has been mostly confined to the modern period.

It is only in the dharmashastras (dharma sutras and smritis) that we find support to the caste system, and not in other canon. However, dharmashastras never had the same status as other canon known as shruti (Vedas and Upanishads) and it is laid down that whenever there is a conflict between the shruti and smriti literature, it is the former that prevails. It is Manusmriti, which is particularly supportive of caste system but where it conflicts with Vedas and Upanishads, the latter would prevail.Apasthambha dharmasutra may have supported untouchability, but it seems to be read more by those who like to attack Hinduism with it than by its followers! It is hardly regarded as canon, even if any Hindu has heard of it.

Though dharmashastras are supposed to support caste system, there is hardly unanimity about it among them. For example, as Ambedkar pointed out, though according to dharmasutras, a shudra is not entitled to upanayana, Samskara Ganapti explicitly declares shudras to be eligible for it. He also shows that according to Jaimini, the author of Purva Mimamsa, shudras could perform vedic rites. Ambedkar refers also to Bharadwaja Srauta Sutra (V 28) and Katyayana Srauta Sutra which concede eligibility to shudras to perform vedic rites [Vasant Moon 1990:198-99]. Kane points out that in spite of some other dharmashastras saying to the contrary, “Badari espoused the cause of the shudras and propounded the view that all (including shudras) were entitled to perform vedic sacrifices” [Kane 1990].

Interestingly, Manusmriti itself shows the way to demolish its own support to the caste system based on birth. In chapter 4, verse 176 clearly states: ‘Discard wealth and desire if they are contrary to dharma, and even dharma itself if it leads to unhappiness or arouses peoples’ indignation’. The first verse in chapter 2 of Manusmriti says: “Know that to be true dharma, which the wise and the good and those who are free from passion and hatred follow and which appeals to the heart”. Mahatma Gandhi was fond of quoting this verse in his lectures. According to this verse, if the wise and the good, who are free from passion and hatred, do not accept caste system based on birth as it does not appeal to the heart, the system can be discarded according to the Manusmrti itself. So much to the support of Manusmriti for the caste system.

Though Bhagvadgita (Gita) is not regarded as a part of shruti, Gita is highly regarded as sacred and is very much a part of classical Hinduism. As we shall just see even the Gita is against caste system based on birth, and not supportive to it….Far from support to the caste system, K M Panikkar considers it as constituting a devastating attack on caste based on birth. Kane says that if Krishna wanted to make birth as the basis of his division of labour, he could easily have said ‘jati-karma-vibhagashah’ or ‘janma-karma-vibhagashah’, instead of ‘guna-karma-vibhagashah’ as actually stated [Kane 1990:1635-36]. He pointed out clearly to ‘guna’. This is also consistent with what Krishna replied to Arjuna’s specific question in Uttaragita.

A posthumously published paper by M N Srinivas (2003) carries the assertive title – ‘An Obituary on Caste as a System’. Paradoxically, the system has expired but caste identities remain and show no sign of going. It looks, caste system is dead but its ghost remains. Caste as a system is taken to mean by Srinivas as involving mainly its localised social production base, subsistence economy, and jati (caste) based occupations. Alvin Toffler (1980) in his book, The Third Wave, has pointed out to the recent phenomenon of what he calls the ‘prosuming’ or ‘prosumer’, occasioned by the blurring line between producing and consuming. This refers to ‘do-it-yourself’ kits and self-service, which is becoming more prominent.

In this context, Arvind Sharma’s reinterpretation of the purusha sukta in the 10th mandala of Rg Veda is of interest. According to Sharma, the reference here need not be to social structure as such, but to combining in the same individual different duties one has to perform during one’s life, – learning, helping in the management or governance of the community and the country as in a democracy (voter being the king) including offering militancy service when needed, participation in economic or professional activities and service to society including manual labour (for one’s own benefit and for the society). In his words: ‘The idea is that all varnas are contained in every individual from now on instead of every individual being comprised within one of the varnas’ [Sharma 1996].

M N Srinivas (2003) refers to a combination of new forces in operation, responsible for the destruction of the caste system. These forces have led to the breakdown of the caste-based mode of social production in turn leading to the collapse of the caste system. The new forces are breakdown of the jajmani system, emergence of the larger market and decline of the village based subsistence production, urbanisation, and above all the rise of democracy based on adult franchise. Along with these, there is widespread acceptance of new values – equality, self-respect, and human dignity. He cites several instances of how village artisan based production has given place to factory production – mass produced edible oil replacing the oil-seed pressing caste, factory produced plastic and aluminum vessels replacing the village potter caste, urban textiles replacing the village weaver and so on. Srinivas observes significantly: “The moral is that ideological attacks on hierarchy and brahmanical claims to supremacy failed to create an egalitarian social order since at the local level the production of basic needs was intrinsically bound up with jati” (p 458)…

Hinduism has been thriving with renewed vigour thanks to such leaders as Satya Sai Baba, Mata Amritanandamayi and Sri Sri Ravishankar, and institutions like Ramakrishna Mission, Brahmakumaris and ISKON on an entirely non-caste basis. This is because caste is not intrinsic to basic principles and tenets of Hinduism as enshrined in Hindu canon. Hinduism itself has fought and is still fighting against casteism in a significant way. If caste system were intrinsic to Hinduism, Shri Narayana Guru and Mata Amritanandamayi would not have worked within the framework of Hinduism.

Address for correspondence:
mv.nadkarni@rediffmaio.com

Redefining secularism By Subramanian Swamy . Professor Romila Thapar of the JNU propagated the Aryan-Dravidian two-race theory. But in 2002, in her book Penguin History of Early India she has disowned the Aryan-Dravidian race/nation theory altogether. She states now that: "To refer to `the Aryan' as a race is therefore inaccurate." Better late than never, but it is a pity that she has done it after the RSS has found power at the Centre and launched revision of textbooks. Under cover of correcting the distorted history of India, which history had hurt the sentiments of not only the masses but of all non-anglicised intellectuals of India, the RSS has very nearly destroyed the natural appeal of secularism in the country. The RSS pracharaks have also re-defined secularism and painted it as appeasement of the minorities. This unfortunately because of the historical context has struck a responsive chord in the hearts of the Hindu masses. Hence if we are to reject the Martin Luther, Marxist, Nehruvian and the RSS version of secularism, then it is imperative to define how we are to positively structure a new concept that has appeal for the Indian masses. To do that we have to recognise the process that the doyen of sociologists, Dr. M.N. Srinivas, had termed Sanskritisation. This term has nothing to do with the ancient language. Instead it comes from the word Sanskriti, which means culture. This learned scholar had told me years ago that the Indian masses first ape, then digest, and finally assimilate elite behaviour. He had decades of published research to prove this. The final co-option of the upward mobile sections of the masses for assimilation as elites, happens with religions sanction. To see this in reality, one has to study how the Nadars in Tamil Nadu, Ezhavas in Kerala, and Jats in Uttar Pradesh became elites in society. The Thevars may be the next caste to be so assimilated. The great Ramanuja had even assimilated well-educated Scheduled Castes into the socially prestigious priestly class. It is my view that the real reason secularism as propounded by Nehru has floundered is that it became an obstacle to this process of Sanskritisation. That is, secularism as defined by Nehru in fact froze the Hindu social order by either nonchalance to religion or by its implied negative rebuke. It lacked the positive content of providing a process for assimilation of the lower castes into the elite. It is interesting to observe that the Hindutva propounded by the RSS has attracted more of the lower and deprived castes that the so-called upper castes. In Uttar Pradesh, the Yadavas, Kurmis, and Lodhs were the most enthusiastic adherents of Hindutva since it enabled Sanskritisation through political empowerment. The Babri Masjid was demolished by mobs of the backward castes. Uma Bharti or Sadhvi Ritambara are from these castes. Hence, today Yadava leaders like Mulayam Singh, Kurmi leaders like Nitish Kumar and Lodh leaders like Kalyan Singh are feeling the heat of Hindutva and the pressure to conform. The RSS may be Brahmin-dominated at the leadership level, but its storm troopers like the Bajrang Dal are mostly of the Hindu "proletariat." Hence, rather than surrender or capitulate to this Hindutva blitzkrieg, and thus cause a frightening re-run of 1930s Germany in our country, secular patriotic forces now ought to and should redefine secularism as a neo-Gandhi-Patel concept rejecting the Nehruvian variety. For this Sanskritisation should be promoted by a call declaring the caste system as anti-Hindu. Not that it will abolish the caste system, but it will begin the ferment for it. There is sufficient theological basis for such a call. Dr. M.V. Nadkarni has written a masterpiece on this in Economic and Political Weekly (November 8, 2003) titled "Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism — Demolishing a Myth." He has made out a convincing case that birth-based caste system is actually against the tenets of Hindu religion. Incidentally, Dr. Ambedkar, himself a scholar of Hindu religion and history, has all along held this view in his numerous and now buried writings. Dalit writers of today have totally distorted his concepts, and hence contributed to the obscuring of his writings. Only an approach of incorporating Sankritisation in a concept of secularism can insulate the Indian mind from communal pollution and halt fascism. Indian culture needs modernisation, but not westernisation. In other words, we have to set religion to curb religious fanaticism in India much as Vivekananda, Subramania Bharati and Gandhiji had tried to do. The task is incomplete and in fact interrupted by the Nehru interlude and the RSS vulgarisation. It needs to be boldly rectified today. (The writer is president, Janata Party.) http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/18/stories/2004031801941000.htm

First, it was the Times of India, a decade back. It tried to break all the rules so that it can rule the roost. And, it worked. Via Delhi Times, it re-wrote the whole ethics of reporting and journalism. The new India lapped it up. From MTV to FTV, India has undergone a transformation, the magnitude of which is difficult to reckon or document. But all attempts to metamorphosis has a limit, for you can forever change into a new entity. And there comes the need for restraint. The Times of India discovered it lately. It crawled back into being a classic newspaper. Perhaps it makes commercial sense too, for, there is a huge audience which waits evey morning for a newspaper, not a magazine.

Now it seems TOI has planted a mole in the HT stable. Somebody is trying his level best to destroy the old HT ethos and make it look like the blued-jackal of our old parable. Now HT uses banner headlines and half-page photographs, not of much import. It is hell bent to destroy its front page. Its anaemic body seems to fall off some day. God save the HT!

It's difficult to understand whether the newspapers are meant for readers or picture browsers. Technology has facilitated the use of visuals but they need not ease out the words. Unfortunately newspaper pages are being designed as posters. And we get big stories and special reports spanning a full page. Huge cartoons, giant graphics, bloated photographs adorn the centestage. Words are squeezed out to the periphery. The reader, always short of time, is intimidated. He simply turns over the page.

That somebody has produced a film in black and white, today, is really a heroic venture. So, who'd fight against the tyranny of the visuals in the newspapers? Can we expect a special supplement in every paper which respects the intelligence of the reader and offers him food for thought?