Emergent India
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
| Author | Gowher Rizvi |
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200706200403 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Gowher Rizvi
Emergent India
Globalization, democracy, and social justice
Graduate students doing research on India in the 1980s would be told by
their professors that if they wanted to be right about India, it was safer to
be pessimistic. Not surprisingly, a deep pessimism had permeated the
study of India, and scholars and analysts (when not preoccupied with the
exotic maharajahs, the snake charmers, or the Indian rope trick) vied to
write about the disintegration of India, the collapse of Indian democracy,
and India’s inability to break out of the so-called “Hindu rate of growth.”
Such pessimism was not confined to foreign scholars but also given credi-
bility by distinguished Indians. Bashing India passed for academic objec-
tivity; any hint of optimism was dismissed as the apologia of an emotional-
ly charged nationalist.
But what a difference two decades can make to our perceptions.
Today, India has become the favorite poster child for the success of
globalization. It is the most popular destination for corporate board
retreats: businessmen, journalists, academics, and in fact all and sundry are
headed for India. In 2006 alone more officials, congressmen, and corpo-
Gowher Rizvi is the director of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance &
Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
| International Journal | Autumn 2007 | 753 |
rate CEOs from the USA had turned up in New Delhi than in the entire
decade prior to 1985. That India had come of age was confirmed belatedly
by
Foreign Affairs
in July-August 2006 when it described India as a “roar-
ing capitalist success.” The enthusiasm for the shining India is best
summed up by my friend Gurcharan Das, the author of
India Unbound:
India is poised at a key moment in its history. Rapid growth will
likely continue—and even accelerate…. India has improved its
competitiveness considerably since 1991: there has been a telecom-
munications revolution, interest rates have gone down, capital is
plentiful, highways and ports have improved, and real estate mar-
kets are becoming transparent. More than 100 Indian companies
now have market capitalization of over a billion dollars, and some
of these—including Bharat Forge, Jet Airways, Infosys
Technologies, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Motors, and Wipro
Technologies—are likely to become competitive global brands
soon. Foreigners have invested in over 1,000 Indian companies via
the stock market. Of the Fortune 500 companies, 125 now have
research and development bases in India—a testament to its
human capital.1
India’s success is quite spectacular. It is no longer a question whether
India will join the coveted ranks of the global powers in the 21st century.
One can assert with confidence that this destiny is irreversible. The eupho-
ria and adulation that India has evoked, both at home and abroad, is every
bit well deserved, but there is an important reason to be cautious about
such a narrow business-centric view. It tends to obscure important issues
and real challenges that lie ahead. Just as the earlier pessimism detracted
us from recognizing the true potential of India, the euphoric focus on glob-
alization and economic liberalization misses two crucial issues.
First, many recent commentators, unburdened by knowledge of the
past, have ascribed India’s success to globalization and its policy of eco-
nomic liberalization. In his new best seller,
The World is Flat
, Tom
Friedman provides a scintillating account of the ways in which India has
been affected by globalization and the breathtaking speed with which India
has transformed itself in the last decade. Not only has the landscape
changed, but there is also a palpable sense of excitement and optimism that
1 Gurcharan Das, “The India model,”
Foreign Affairs
85, no. 4 (2006).
| 754 | International Journal | Autumn 2007 |
| Gowher Rizvi |
To continue reading
Request your trial