Globalization In India

Essay: Which of the accounts on the impact of globalization on the state do you find more compelling? Discuss with reference to the case of India.

Globalization in India: Arguments & Counter-Arguments

Since the decade of the 1980’s, the term ‘Globalization’ has been making its presence felt in the academic literature and in the policies of governments across the world. It started in the developed West and then slowly made in-roads into the policies of almost all the countries of the world, so much so that the avowedly communist countries like China and Cuba have also been seen to adjust and re-adjust their national policies accordingly. Globalization refers to a process of interconnectedness between various countries of the world and integration

Moreover, it is also important to keep in mind that, although the economic policy changes may seem huge in India, as compared to many other developing countries that went through an adjustment process, India’s experience is one of gradualism, with the national government very much in charge. Nayar (2003) even concludes that the opening up of India’s economy has not at all compromised its economic autonomy, but has only augmented this. The pressures from the International Financial Institutions were not that much; they were towards an open door; and they were disregarded when they were thought inappropriate (Nayar, 2003: 25). To conclude, the most common approach of political scientists writing about Indian reforms, is to relate their scope and content to political and economic interests. It 8 is argued that the reforms are in the interest of the dominant economic classes, particularly the new business groups, who are politically articulated with the CII as their main organization. International trade agreements, loan conditionalities and ready-made international blueprints are also considered as important pressures explaining the scope and content of the Indian reforms.”

So while the neo-liberal approach of reforms to Indian economy may have gone well with the above mentioned sections of the Indian economy and society, on the other hand, they certainly have not augured well for the Indian medium and small sectors of its economy with huge segments of its population being dependent on agriculture having to face the brunt of this urban-rural divide within the country over the meaning and conception of development in the real sense of a