Abstract
The volume seeks to unravel the ways in which the question of rights is being negotiated by the various stakeholders in India in the backdrop of the vicissitudes of globalisation. The context is the configuration of power at the intersection of political and economic institutions on one hand, and on the other, the strategies devised by communities at the grassroots. The local actors seek greater networking at the national and global levels to strengthen their movements and negotiate with the state to ensure greater accountability. The state seeks to respond to such movements by devising new techniques of ‘governance’ and ‘governmentality’.
In the first section, titled ‘Environmental Justice and Rights’, the essay by Suha Priyadarshini Chakravorty examines the interface between common property resources and local institutions. The author puts forward the notion of ‘common environment’, the reference point being the uranium radiation crisis at Jadugoda, Jharkhand. As a case study, the struggle of Jharkhandi Organisation against Radiation (JOAR) against the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) is analysed. Madhuresh Kumar’s essay looks at the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 in a historical framework. It is seen as an instance of ‘Popular Constitutionalism’ by the state, which otherwise, is doggedly pursuing policies of neoliberal economics. The Act seeks to reverse the argument of ‘eminent domain’ engaged in by the colonial as well as the postcolonial state in India. It positions the claims of the community in confrontation with the bureaucracy of the forest department. However, the author points out that as the Act deals with competing claims made by unequal partners, the stakes are heavily in favour of the forest department.
The second section is titled ‘Law and Information in a Globalising World’. In one of the essays here, Ashok Agrwaal offers a spirited argument on the clash between the forces of globalisation and the language of rights. This is based on an analysis of the stand-off between Sterlite Industries–Vedanta conglomerate, backed by powerful political players, versus the rights of the Dongria Kondhs of Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha. Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chaudhury, in his essay, critically engages with the Right to Information (RTI) Act as a means of mass persuasion. The peoples’ movements for such an initiative as well as the various interventions of courts of law across India on the issue are also brought into the discussion. The various roadblocks that have come in the way of the implementation of the Act as well as the curious case of the cold-blooded murder of RTI activists across India are also dealt with. Sibaji Pratim Basu’s essay hitches RTI in India to the contexts of globalisation, particularly the surge in movements for human rights as well as the general trend of nation-states adopting laws of transparency. The modern nation-state is torn between two conflicting compulsions—that of maintaining ‘secrecy’ and of providing the citizens an illusion of participation in the processes of democracy. The RTI Act is seen in conjunction with the project of the Indian state to issue unique identity numbers based on biometric data to every citizen. The former seeks to enable the citizens to press for sustainable rights, while the latter works in the opposite direction, augmenting the practices of surveillance undertaken by the state.
‘Globalization and Labouring Lives’ is the third section. Swati Ghosh’s essay deals with rights of labourers in the context of circular migration. Circular migrants are seen as marginal people in all contexts of their lives. Withdrawal of subsidies and rolling back of welfare measures have played a major role in the increasing number of people resorting to circular migration. The arguments give a well-grounded analysis of the condition of migrant workers, with specific reference to West Bengal. Ishita Dey’s contribution focuses on the problems of the special economic zones (SEZs) with reference to the rights discourse. An analysis of the SEZ Act 2005 and the legislative framework put in place demonstrates how the state has not only taken upon itself the duty of creating a favourable business climate for private capital but also has put in place stringent practices of local governance. Based on the case study of the Falta SEZ (West Bengal), the analysis brings to the fore the extent of the feminisation of unskilled workforce, demonstrating the way globalisation accentuates a gendered division of labour. The book ends with a conversation between Jean Dreze and Ranabir Samaddar where the absence of a discourse of rights and class struggle in the vocabulary of mainstream economics in India is underlined.
In the postscript, Ranabir Samaddar argues that the combined discourses of development and democracy engender new forms of power as well as subjugation. Globalisation multiplies the divides of class, caste and gender on plural canvasses, resulting in what the author calls ‘the democratic deficit’. The authors have succeeded in presenting to the reader the question of rights at the interplay of neoliberal economics, the policies of the state and the strategies adopted by the local actors. The themes dealt with are also well grounded with specific reference to flashpoints and case studies. The novelty of the book lies in the focus the authors have given to rights and the way rights are defined, negotiated and configured in different settings. However, the arguments used by the authors do not add significant new insights to what is already known about the underside of globalisation and neoliberal economic policies. Nonetheless, the book has come out at a time of greater visibility of ‘civil society’ in India; it also underlines a hitherto unseen vigorous debate on rights. It is a valuable work for all who are interested in probing the intersection of rights and globalisation.