Suchergebnisse

India's attempt to boost exports and create jobs by establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) represents an intensification of its market-based development paradigm. More than a decade after importing the SEZ concept from China, India contains hundreds of these walled-off, deregulated, low-tax enclaves. But in democratic India, protest movements arose against many proposed SEZs. Through detailed case studies of SEZ development in 11 states, this book examines regional variations in both popular mobilisation and state response.

The emergence of The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in 2005 was the culmination of a long and contentious process. In this work Rob Jenkins provides a concise introduction that traces the origins and evolution of peacebuilding as a concept, the creation and functioning of the PBC as an institution, and the complicated relationship between these two processes. Jenkins discusses how continued contestation over what exactly peacebuilding is, and how its objectives can most effectively be achieved, influenced the institutional design and de facto functioning of the PBC, it

Successive Indian governments have remained committed to market-oriented reform since its introduction in 1991. In a well-argued examination of the political dynamics which underlie that commitment, Jenkins challenges existing theories of the relationship between democracy and economic liberalisation

Successive Indian governments, from right and left, have remained committed to market-oriented reform since its introduction in 1991. In a well-argued, accessible and sometimes controversial examination of the political dynamics which underlie that commitment, Rob Jenkins challenges existing theories of the relationship between democracy and economic liberalisation. He contends that while democracy and liberalisation are no longer considered incompatible, theorizing over-emphasizes democracy's more wholesome aspects while underestimating its practioners' reliance on obfuscating tactics to defuse political resistance to policy shifts. By focusing on formal political systems, existing research ignores the value of informal institutions. In India it is these institutions which have driven economic elites towards negotiation, while allowing governing elites to divide the opponents of reform through a range of political tactics. In fact, the author argues, it is precisely through such political manoeuvring that democracy survives

India's 2019 general election returned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to a second term in office. The BJP increased its parliamentary majority and expanded beyond its core regions. Its victory was all the more impressive given the economy's mediocre performance during Modi's first five years in office and serious signs of political disaffection, including BJP losses in important state-level elections, just months before the national campaign commenced. Modi's ability to turn things around is a testament to his personal popularity as well as the BJP's well-funded and organized political machine. But it also reflects the party's willingness to stoke nationalist passions, target minority groups, harass civil society, politicize national security, and undermine institutions of accountability. Despite the BJP's impressive showing, and some of the methods by which it was achieved, claims that the 2019 election represents a transformation in the nature of Indian politics should be treated with caution. (Pa Aff/GIGA)

Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, eds, Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for other Developing Countries. New York, NY: Public Affairs. 2013. 302 pages. US$ 28.99. Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, eds, An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2013. 446 pages. US$ 22.95.