Neoliberalism, Urbanization and Aspirations in Contemporary India

Description

This volume brings together scholarship from different disciplines on the theme of
neoliberalism. Contemporary neoliberal economic policy, it argues has increased
inequalities and exclusions while providing opportunities to the upper sections of
the society. In turn it has also creating new risks and challenges to everyday lives
of the lower and middle classes of the country. While the focus of the volume is
on the way urbanization and lower-class aspirations have been harnessed for the
neoliberal project, there are also essays on the way social media has impacted
democracy and as well on the impact of gendered demographic dividend on the
economy. The volume also includes a set of papers that analyses the implications
of neoliberalism on the State of Uttar Pradesh. The authors in this volume
argue that the changes inaugurated by neoliberalism challenge them to re-think
old perspectives on development popular among social scientists with most
asserting a need to construct new interdisciplinary perspectives to narrate analytically these contemporary changes.

About the author

SUJATA PATEL is Distinguished Professor Savitribai Phule Pune University, and Kirsten Hesselgren Visiting Professor, University of Umea, 2021.

Table of contents

1. Introduction: Comprehending neoliberal India Sujata Patel
Section One: Neo Liberalisation: A Contemporary Snap-shot.
2. Democracy in Smart and Instant Times. Neoliberalism, Populism, and Instant Communication: Maitrayee Chaudhuri
3. On Demographic and Gender Dividend in India: K.S. James
4. Growth and Consumption in Uttar Pradesh under 'Neo-liberalism': Ravi Srivastava
5. The Urban Experience in Contemporary India: Sujata Patel
Section Two: : The Urban Process and Neoliberalisation
6. New Urbanism and the Re-making of Citizenship, Class and 'Community': Sanjay Srivastava
7. Rural Real Estate: Empty Urbanisation and the Agrarian Land Transition:
Carol Upadhya
8 Political Centrality of `Capital' Cities in India: A Case of Amaravati, Gurgaon, and Rajarhat: Purendra Prasad
9. India's Emerging Risk Urbanism. Cities, Commons and Neo-Liberal Transformations: D. Parthasarthy
Section Three: Becoming middle class, being deprived and having aspirations
10. Most Marginal Dalits in Neo Liberal Economy Badri Narayan
11. From Social Justice to Aspiration: Transformation of Lower Caste Politics in Uttar
Pradesh in the 2000s: Sudha Pai
12. Markets and Aspirations. Aseem Prakash
13. The Muslim Middle Class. Structure, Identity and Mobility. Tanweer Fazal