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The unknown history of economic conservatism in India after independence.
Neoliberalism is routinely characterized as an antidemocratic, expert-driven project aimed at insulating markets from politics, devised in the North Atlantic and projected on the rest of the world. Revising this understanding, Toward a Free Economy shows how economic conservatism emerged and was disseminated in a postcolonial society consistent with the logic of democracy.
Twelve years after the British left India, a Swatantra (“Freedom”) Party came to life. It encouraged Indians to break with the Indian National Congress Party, which spearheaded the anticolonial nationalist movement and now dominated Indian democracy. Rejecting Congress’s heavy-industrial developmental state and the accompanying rhetoric of socialism, Swatantra promised “free economy” through its project of opposition politics.
As it circulated across various genres, “free economy” took on meanings that varied by region and language, caste and class, and won diverse advocates. These articulations, informed by but distinct from neoliberalism, came chiefly from communities in southern and western India as they embraced new forms of entrepreneurial activity. At their core, they connoted anticommunism, unfettered private economic activity, decentralized development, and the defense of private property.
Opposition politics encompassed ideas and practice. Swatantra’s leaders imagined a conservative alternative to a progressive dominant party in a two-party system. They communicated ideas and mobilized people around such issues as inflation, taxation, and property. And they made creative use of India’s institutions to bring checks and balances to the political system.
Democracy’s persistence in India is uncommon among postcolonial societies. By excavating a perspective of how Indians made and understood their own democracy and economy, Aditya Balasubramanian broadens our picture of neoliberalism, democracy, and the postcolonial world.
Publisher : Princeton University Press (1 January 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 0691256578
ISBN-13 : 978-0691256573
Item Weight : 300 g
Dimensions : 21.5 x 14 x 2.9 cm
Country of Origin : India
Sanjeet Kashyap –
A Must Read on the Early Years of Postcolonial Indian Republic
A compelling and well researched book on the economic ideology of free economy in the early years of the Indian republic. With the methodogical novelty in terms of constructing the history of economic lives and a spatial focus on the regional sources of economic ideas, the author does an admirable job of sketching out the context in which the Swatantra thinkers made their claims. The later chapters on the party’s strategy to engage with the public on economic matters is especially instructive.
Shark –
A well-researched history book
The book gives a very detailed early history of alternate free-market economic ideas culminating in India pre and post-independence. It offers interesting biographies of people involved in the movement. The early chapters on Lotvalas and chapters on Rajagopalachari are a page turner.My only complaint is when talking about economic policy, plans and implementation, the language can be a bit repetitive. But still, I did learn a lot and gives you a very good picture of early economic ideological diversity in Indian politics and the efforts taken by the personalities to learn further and disseminate them.
Amazon Customer –
An excellent book that discusses the history and players of an incredible period of Indian economic development.The book is compelling for the layman, not just an academic audience.