DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

University of Delhi

BOOK REVIEW
Book - The Political Economy of New India
Writer - Raju J Das

Submitted By- Submitted To-

Name- Anubhav Shukla Dr. Robert Mizo
Roll No.- 22232724066
Semester- Third
Subject- 7B-69 : International Political Economy
Course - M.A.(Previous) Political Science
Institution- Department of Political Science
(North Campus)
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Book Review
Book- The Political Economy of New India
Writer - Raju J Das

In the contemporary globalized world when the wars are fought

with the new weapons of trade, foreign exchange reserves,
market reforms, bans etc. What has gained much relevance at the
international stage is the economy of the countries. With
elections being fought on the name of development or "vikas"
and development being recognized by the pro-market reforms,
"The Political Economy of New India" the book by Raju J Das
tries to find out that where the larger section of the people les
while the market lies in the clutches of elite minority class.

This book which got published in 2020 seems to be written in the

same decade which witnessed larger economic transformation
after the New Economic Policy was implemented in the country.
This has been the period of pro-market reforms with neoliberal
policies being promoted at large and this book consists the
evaluation of all the resulting changes which have been
witnessed, ranging from the rise of big business houses to a very
high potential to deepening of the crisis at lower level consisting
the largest section of the society. The author has also put larger
emphasis on the decreasing influence of the left and rise of the
right parties and their ideology.

In this book the author begin with how the rise of neoliberalism
caught its full pace after new economic policy was implemented
and covers all the related aspects which were followed after it.

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Talks about the agrarian crisis and how the government's motive
to favor the big business houses has been the reason behind it.
The issue of privatization of education and how it has been
commodified has also been discussed. In later parts the right
wing view of development focussing and advocating the gujarat
model is discussed while BJPs agenda behind hindutva politics
is also reflected upon. These are followed by giving attention to
class character of Indian state and poverty issues and how they
have been kept aside by bringing in the religion factor of minority
and majority and politics of hindutva. In the later chapters the
attention is given to what could be done to uplift the economic,
political and social conditions of the labor class, agrarian
population and the small scale producers. Why the left parties
failed to gain eminence and what they should focus upon and
aim for is also mentioned by the author.

Author in the first chapter begins with looking on to the

momentous change in the political and economical sphere which
India has been going through where political institutions have
been taking some very serious steps in the social and
economical domain. Meanwhile the author claims that how
intellectual writings nowadays have been based largely on raw
facts or consist of convoluted conceptual arguments with lots of
citations which has little clear linkage with the real world and
fails to give an explanatory interpretation of the big picture.

Second chapter is a critique of the acclaimed success of India

and its policies, saying its rise to be the rise only of big
businessmen and more privileged layers of the society. Claims
are made of india's position in the global capitalist economy to
be that of a low wage platform, which must produce things,
services for imperialist centers at a low cost where all barriers to

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capitalist accumulation of profits have been removed. Looking at

the recent inflation and downfall of the GDP growth, the growth
accounted for in the period of 2003-08 was called to be that
gained by the state bribing business class and giving away
natural resources at cheap rates. Author has focused on the
economic inequality, economic insecurity, unemployment,
casualization and labor exploitation which the NEP and its
resulting policies have resulted in. He has covered the post 2008
global crisis which has resulted in the current account crisis and
the bank crisis which have risen within the country.

Chapter 3, 4 and 5 is focused upon two major aspects that is

neoliberalism and the resulting agrarian crisis and the
privatization of education and rising high cost catching
institutions. Author discusses Law of Value which is an
international process of determining competitive price for
production which puts all small scale producers in a vulnerable
situation because of farming being nature dependent,
geographically dispersed and at relatively small scale. Meanwhile
decreasing subsidies and other aids which are channeled
towards big business houses leads to stagnant revenue and
rising cost. States themselves subjected to the law of value
dependent on value creation do not play the role of value
matching anymore and lead to destruction of economically
weaker sections. Farm productivity in India being relatively low
and meanwhile availability of cheaper foreign imports lead to
super exploitation of labor in India for their survival. These
results in deeper indebtedness and farmers sucide.

According to author Education becoming the commodity has

given rise to the expensive coachings and private universities
which themselves are runned by mediocres who have neither

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succeeded in competing for competitive exams nor in academic

world. Author claims the coaching industries like of one of civil
services to be contributing to the circulation of status, power and
money among the top few. Civil servants and their master
managing the common affairs of the propertied class that have
dominance over the rest. They oversee the market system in
India where animal spirit of highest profit making is highly
encouraged. Author claims the aim of the education to be of self
development and social development which are no more the
focus of education today where the focus is more upon money
with an enormous number of people going for engineering and
medical courses which are more money centered.

In chapter 6 and 7 the author talks about the hindu rights model
and its nationalist worldview which focuses more on promoting
cultural nationalism. Raju J Das looks at the Gujarat model of
development calling it to be hindu model of development. He
claims that model to partly be an ideology which consists of
ideas which are partly false, distorted and illusory. Looks at the
polarization which is between religious minority and majority and
claims the nodel to be an hegemonic project. He calls its the wine
of naked neoliberalism in the bottle of development and good
governance. He talks about how BJP politics has tend to hindu
workers and peasants to stand with exploitative property owner
on the basis of religion, with whom they should have fought for
the exploitation they cause. Author criticizes the model where
cow slaughter is prohibited but slaughtering humans is justified
just because they belong to some particular religion.

He claims the aim of the saffron family that is BJP and its
followers to be promoting non class based politics that is based
on religious divide. He calls them the advocate of 'profane class

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matters' and class its government to be a pro-market,

pro-business, pro-rich government.

In chapter 8 and 9 Raj J Das talks about the peoples poverty and
class character of the Indian state which he class to be
surrounded around who controls society's resources and
resources are used for what purpose. He calls indian economy to
be based around regime of low wages and long hours, regimer of
transferring resources at cheaper prices to rich, unsustainable
use of resources, inability of the state to help poor, with
imperialism imprint, all these being maintained through massive
coercion, dividing masses, reversible concessions. The system
deprives the masses from the fruit of their own labor and putting
it into the basket of a few rich people. Author mentions some
developmental intervention like land ceiling, promotion of
technology and provisions of cheap credit and has also
explained how these have been completely in favor of the top
three class consisting of rural landlords, business elites and
upper middle class of politicians and civil servants.

Later chapters in the book consist of what is left parties and why
they have not been completely successful in bringing the radical
changes in the society. Authors says that the system is bathed
with passion, the passion for wealth in the abstract, and the
passion to crush any fundamental opposition to it. It is permitted
permeated with revolutionary impatience impatient to make a
large amount of money briefly as possible, but there does not
appear to be equal revolutionary impatience on the part of those
being exploited and are oppressed. He talks about how
industries have set with only taking into regards the benefits of
the industrialists and not the farmers. He also refers to as the

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poverty being only present because of the presence of the

condition which causes it and that needs to be mitigated.
Author while criticizing the actions of the left in past where it
sided with the right wing parties like congress and BJP also calls
it to be the time for the left to come forward in the constituencies
where it is strong while also educate the masses and middle
class about wrong being done and form a large and strong and
strengthened organization with radical goals and lagers aims. It
believes this to be the right time for the resurgence of the left
with parties like CPI, CPI-M, CPI - L and many other naxalites
parties to come forward against the hegemonic uplift of the right
wing saffron group and the burgeosie.

The author Of this book has come up with some very radical
thoughts and has also criticized The present government for It's
extremist policies which are more favorable to the industrialist
and big business houses. The author has been largely true when
it comes to the suffering of the labor class and lower middle
class present in india. Also, the language used by the author is
the thing to be appreciated because of its easy to be understood
and being appealing to the masses. It has been written largely
focussing upon the working class which is poverty ridden and is
facing the sufferings caused in the path to benefits the elites and
upper classes of the society. Authors calls for their mobilization,
urge them to be aware and keep check on the government and
prepare to bring radical change in the country which is equally
favourable to the masses.

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