Fragmented Responses towards Global Governance: The Indian Context

The liberalisation dice of the globalisation game has been loaded in favour of developed countries. The recipe of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) prescribed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international economic institutions has proved detrimental to developing countries like India where poverty is pervasive and scarcity of basic amenities crippling. ¹ The SAP syndrome has manifested in lockouts, industrial takeovers, closures, massive retrenchments and weakening/diluting of labour laws, etc. Service sectors such as hospitals and schools have also been adversely affected under pressures from international donor agencies. The unsavoury social and economic consequences on the marginal sections have therefore led to a series of protests and demonstrations. The struggle in all its complexities is both ideological and practical. Pressure to alter the pace and intensity of liberalisation, and change ‘scorecards’ of growth, security and redistribution have gained momentum. The propensity of the elite to coalesce with the predominant forces of globalisation and ignore the basic urges of the masses further adds to the complexities. Evidently, the cataclysmic change augured by global governance on the society, politics and economics is multifaceted. The response of the southern states, namely, India, to this crossfire between the dictates of the global institutions vis-à-vis the complexities of the protests and demands of the classes and masses has been critically analysed in this article. The ongoing attempts to assuage the brutal edges of poverty and provide security and protection are also scrutinised.