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Perspectives

Microfinance Industry in India: Some Thoughts

Vol - XLVI No. 41, October 08, 2011 | Y Venugopal Reddy

The proposed legislation for regulation of the for-profit microfinance sector has a number of problems. It makes the Reserve Bank of India the sole regulator of the sector when this is the domain of the states rather than the central bank. The proposal will permit a back-door entry for the MFIs to collect savings which is not a healthy idea. Any proposal should be drawn on the experience of the states and the for-profit MFIs should be regulated as moneylenders.

Democracy and Health: Evidence from Indian States

Vol - XLVI No. 40, October 01, 2011 | Madhvi Gupta and Pushkar

This study examines the validity of the democracy advantage thesis with reference to India's states and shows that the impact of democracy on health, in terms of infant mortality rates, is mixed - good to moderate in a number of states but poor in most of the populous states. It explains why and how democracy is believed to make a difference to a country's health and human development performance. Further the article highlights the significant variation in IMRs across states and the good to moderate performance among a number of states.

Atrocities in Norway

Vol - XLVI No. 39, September 24, 2011 | Kristin Hanssen

What is this environment in Norway in which a man like Anders Behring Breivik can go on a carefully planned killing of 77 people? Breivik developed his ideas at a time when fringe groups and thinkers were able to develop a feeling of Islamophobia in Norwegian society. Conservative political parties in Norway too argue that Islamist forces have entrenched themselves as enclaves in society. However, after the horror of 22 July, there have been concerns about Islamophobic sentiments in public media and forums. Perhaps in the end the wake-up call that Breivik sought may have the opposite effect of what he intended.

The Idea of India: 'Derivative, Desi and Beyond'

Vol - XLVI No. 37, September 10, 2011 | Gopal Guru

The dalit discourse in India presents a sharp contrast to the "derivative" and the "desi" discourses governing nationalist thought and the "idea of India". The dalit discourse goes "beyond" the two in offering an imagination that is based on a "negative" language which however transcends into a normative form of thinking. The dalit goes beyond both the derivative and desi inasmuch as it foregrounds itself in the local configuration of power, which is constitutive of the hegemonic orders of capitalism and brahminism.

Soft Power in Indian Foreign Policy

Vol - XLVI No. 36, September 03, 2011 | David M Malone

This essay addresses first how the concept of soft power emerged, how it has evolved and then examines one significant effort by India to project soft power to the east. It thereafter looks at some major features of Indian foreign policy, discusses how soft power might or might not relate to them, and zeroes in on how Indians, including the Indian government, may distinguish between "public diplomacy" and soft power in their conceptions of Indian foreign policy.

The Politics of Independence in Bangladesh

Vol - XLVI No. 35, August 27, 2011 | David Ludden

Historians still do not have all the records they need to fully understand the freedom struggle of Bangladesh and offer a proper appreciation of the role of all the participants. Political parties remain justifiably attached to their founders; partisans attached to India and Pakistan also have their memories, points of view and all merit attention. To recover the deeper history of independence, however, scholars need to study its popular dimensions, and, in that light, it is most obvious that radical student leaders and countless lesser lights in the people's struggle for independence still do not have the place in history they deserve.

Vietnam: Voting for Continuity in a Time for Change

Vol - XLVI No. 32, August 06, 2011 | Ly Thuong Kiet

If doi moi (renovation) was a turning point in Vietnam's history, the 2011 Congress of the D'ang Công Sán Viêt Nam (the Communist Party of Vietnam) has sent a clear message to the party leadership that it cannot rest on the modest success of past reform. The congress called for the immediate attention of the one-party government to basic economic, administrative and social problems. What will the impact of the congress be on the short- and long-term political and economic policies and strategies of Vietnam?

'Science' in the Risk Politics of Bt Brinjal

Vol - XLVI No. 31, July 30, 2011 | Esha Shah

Drawing on the literature on controversies, especially on the health risk assessment of genetically modified organisms in Europe, and long-standing debates in science and technology studies, this article argues that science-based risk assessment has inherent limitations, however rigorous, independent, and peer reviewed the work may be. In this context, the debate on Bt brinjal needs to broaden its frame from science-based assessment of consequences to evaluate society-oriented causes and objectives. We need to ask questions such as: What kind of society do we wish to live in? What kind of science and technology do we want? Who sets the agenda for science and technology development and who controls the science and technological decisions?

What Anna Hazare's Movement and India's New Middle Classes Say about Each Other

Vol - XLVI No. 30, July 23, 2011 | Vinay Sitapati

Anna Hazare's hunger strike against corruption in April 2011 attracted disparate intellectual strands from within the Indian middle class. These strands brought complementary skills to the table. The neo-Gandhians conferred legitimacy; India Shining provided energy and finances; and Legal Activists helped navigate the legislative path. The movement also attracted the opprobrium of the Independent Left. Understanding these intellectual strands helps explain the Anna Hazare movement. Equally, the movement sheds light on India's new middle classes and their forms of political engagement.

The Institutions of Democracy

Vol - XLVI No. 29, July 16, 2011 | Andre Beteille

This essay describes and compares Parliament and the Supreme Court and examines the relationship between them. Parliament may still be a great institution, but its members are no longer great men. How long can a great institution remain great in the hands of small men? The SC has held its place in the public esteem rather better than the Lok Sabha, despite the occasional allegation of financial impropriety. Parliament, the SC and the party system have all begun to reveal hitherto concealed deficiencies which should be brought to light and criticised, but constructively and not destructively.