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GLOBALISATION : AN ANTI-TEXT A Local View GLOBALISATION : AN ANTI-TEXT A Local View Pranab Kanti Basu AAKAR GLOBALISATION : AN ANTI-TEXT A Local View Pranab Kanti Basu © Author First Published, 2008 ISBN 978-81-89833-53-4 (Hb) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the Publisher. Published by AAKAR BOOKS 28 E Pocket IV, Mayur Vihar Phase I, Delhi-110 091 Phone : 011-2279 5505 Telefax : 011-2279 5641 [email protected]; www.aakarbooks.com Printed at Mudrak, 30 A Patparganj, Delhi-110 091 To the victims of development GLOBALISATION : AN ANTI-TEXT A Local View Pranab Kanti Basu © Author First Published, 2008 ISBN 978-81-89833-54-4 (Pb) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the Publisher. Published by AAKAR BOOKS 28 E Pocket IV, Mayur Vihar Phase I, Delhi-110 091 Phone : 011-2279 5505 Telefax : 011-2279 5641 [email protected]; www.aakarbooks.com Printed at Mudrak, 30 A Patparganj, Delhi-110 091 Contents Preface 9 1. Introduction 13 2. Globalisation in a Different Sense 23 3. The International Monetary Fund: The Harsh Ethics of Global Capital 37 4. The World Bank: The Humane Mask 64 5. Rent Appropriation and Capitalist Occupation 78 6. The World Trade Organisation: The Police of Global Capital 103 7. The New Strategy of Global Capital 116 8. Another Globalisation 135 9. Tracing the Roots 159 10. Situating the Position 194 References 225 Index 229 Preface Much of this book was written as a series of articles for a vernacular bimonthly with which I was associated. To understand the objective and scope of this book, it is helpful if the reader has some idea of the purpose behind both the bimonthly and the series of articles from which this book emerged. The bimonthly, ekhon sanhathi, which translates roughly into ‘unity now’, grew out of the need felt by a group of individuals, democratic organisations and trade unions to create a platform where diverse progressive views could be articulated both in the sense of expression as well as interaction. We all got together after the terrible Gujarat riots of 2002. It was a coming together of minds, which were united in their sorrow, shame and anger that these terrible acts of murder, rape, and pillage were perpetrated in the very country we called our own; that the state was a silent spectator, if not, as a lot of the media stories suggested, an active accomplice. We were also united in our faith in some kind of leftism, though we had differences regarding what leftism meant. We all agreed on another point. The need at this critical juncture was to revive, refashion and spread a culture of some kind of left humanism, call it Marxism if you will. The need was for positive thought, not just condemnation. A numbing culture of self-aggrandisement had permeated all the capillaries of social and personal being. This was 10 Globalisation : An Anti-Text sustaining and being sustained by various kinds of fanatical groupings. You cut all your community moorings. You are left to face economic, social and private crises all on your own. It gets too much. You leave reality behind, take to drugs, commit suicide. Or you fall into the waiting arms of fanatics who image your community for you. You define yourself by your new community alone. This is bound to be a definition in difference. So you learn to attribute all your miseries to the others – the other community. From there to fanaticism, to fanatical violence. It was simply insufficient to condemn this culture of individualism– which the mainstream economists applaud as ‘rational’. One had to positively think of a new culture. The task was one of constructing a new ethos, a new community. We are not suggesting that one relegate to oblivion, the task of working towards a future in which those who toiled would no longer be servants. But this too was contingent on the birth of a new being for humankind. One could not just leave it to a master plan conceived by the PARTY. Surely the denouement of this simple project was there for all to see. So, while one had to struggle against the tyranny of the existing order, against the order itself, one had also to define the dream of the future, to construct the future in the mind. And since we all believe in materialism, this ethico-political task was inseparably linked to material construction. Thus to the practice of ‘construction and struggle’ – a particularly imaginative application of materialism, which had been articulated by one of the unsung heroes of peoples’ movements in India, Shankar Guha Neogi.1 We thought of various ways in which we could contribute a tiny bit to this project. One of the ideas that emerged was the publication of a paper, which would be a kind of news magazine that would weigh current events and movements from a critical outlook. Unlike similar ventures, which were generally run by some monolithic organisation, which was either a party or verging on it, ours would be a democratic forum with the express purpose of exciting the mind of the reader to be critical. In plain terms, we would not judge a written piece by the known political antecedents of the writer. As long as we found the view coherent and broadly left in inclination, it would be acceptable. Preface 11 Further, we would actively try to gather together conflicting opinions (or perspectives) on issues that we deemed to be important.2 We felt that, apart from serving up news about current events from a critical perspective, we had to make people think about the chronic sores that our ‘progress’ was inflicting on our material and psychic being. At the same time, we had to be positive, bringing to light people’s efforts, however small, to seek an alternative course of development. One of the ‘long-term’ issues that had to be seriously analysed was globalisation. Generally, one can categorise the writings on such issues from a left perspective into three compartments: there are the erudite or elite pieces, full of impenetrable jargon, meant for the initiated; the pieces meant for plebeian readers where the writer gives tantalising glimpses of one’s own knowledge of the theoretical issues involved but does not explicate the issues for the ‘ignorant’ reader; and then there are the pieces commissioned by the Party, whichever it may be. We felt that if the issue was one of building critical awareness, one could not shy away from introducing the reader to theoretical issues. At the same time, it was necessary to avoid obfuscating jargon. So emerged the series of articles that was ultimately to take the shape of this present volume. While the series was appearing in Bengali, some of us felt that if the event that had immediately roused us from our complacent everyday slumber had occurred outside our state, there was reason to break out of our insularity and communicate with people outside our state. The best option was to articulate our position in Hindi. But that was ruled out by my linguistic limitations! Ultimately, we decided that it would be appropriate to write the book in English. By then the limitations of a democratic organisation had begun to surface and by the time I had completed the work of writing, the organisation had dissolved. However, I must acknowledge my debt to all those who were part of the organisation for motivating my effort. Beyond this circle I am indebted to a lot of friends in Kolkata, especially those associated with the Economics Department of Calcutta University, who are actively baking new building 12 Globalisation : An Anti-Text blocks for the political economy. Their work has helped in the formation/articulation of my ideas even where I disagree with their formulations. I have acknowledged my particular debts to them in the appropriate places. Some I have to mention separately because they have contributed in a way that cannot be pinned down to some particular ideas or concepts. Ajit Chowdhury has been a philosopher and guide to me. Unfortunately, physical distance has prevented a more active collaboration in this particular project. Dipankar Das is an incisive, heartless critique and imaginative support in all my recent academic ventures. I am also grateful to him for doing a great job of editing most of the chapters. Rajesh Bhattacharya has also been an active participant for some of the journey. I am always grateful to my daughter, Sreeja, for her unflagging desire to see my work in print. That is a great impetus. Finally, I am grateful to my wife, Nilanjana, for her sustained cynicism about our tendency towards intellectualism. This has spurred continuous self-criticism about the general readability and relevance of the views expressed. Santiniketan, 2007 Pranab Kanti Basu NOTES 1. Neogi is a neglected figure in the Indian Marxist pantheon. His innovative contributions both to the theory and practice of Marxism are discussed in some detail in Chapter 8. 2. Democracy is so much easier demanded than practised! Thousands of groups, like ours, have claimed to be different, that is, more democratic than others. How do you run a news magazine democratically? After all, you must have an editor. The problem is always essentially the same – can you have an organisation that is thoroughly democratic? Is there not a contradiction in terms? All that we can claim in our favour is that we were conscious of these issues. And, perhaps the best proof of our democratic credentials is that the group simply disintegrated when faced with internal disagreement over perspectives to a contemporary struggle! It did not preserve itself by expelling the minority. But then this is hardly a practicable solution to the dilemma.

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