ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Sarah JosephSubscribe to Sarah Joseph

Redefining the Object of Political Science

Critical Studies in Politics: Exploring Sites, Selves, Power edited by Nivedita Menon, Aditya Nigam and Sanjay Palshikar (Orient BlackSwan), 2014; pp 564, Rs 995.

Mapping the Landscape of Political Theory

Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Political Theory edited by Mangesh Kulkarni (New Delhi: Sage), 2011; pp 304, Rs 795.

Neoliberal Reforms and Democracy in India

The debate regarding neoliberal reforms has, in the main, focused on the changes in economic policy initiated of late. The reforms of the state, and of governance, which have also been undertaken, have been viewed as providing the necessary back up for economic reforms. But, the restructuring of the state has an independent significance. It represents an attempt to incorporate market rationality in the organisation and functioning of the state. Further, the implications of political reforms for democracy in India need to be explored. Since not only democratic institutions but also the humanist ideals which had inspired the social democratic state are now being reinterpreted in line with the neoliberal political agenda, a critical examination of the process becomes important.

Re-examining Democracy

There is nothing startlingly new in all this of course, it seems to constitute the com Re-examining Democracy mon sense of a large number of policy- The Burden of Democracy by Pratap Bhanu Mehta; Penguin, Delhi, 2003;

State and Society in India

State and Society in India Democracy and Development in India by Shalendra D Sharma; Lynn-Reinner Publishers, Boulder Colorado, 1999; Reprinted by Rawat Publishers, Jaipur and New Delhi (2003);

Delivering Development

Nongovernments. NGOs and the Political Development of the Third World by Julie Fisher; first published by Kumarian Press, US, Indian reprint, Rawat, Jaipur, 2003; pp XII+234, Rs 575

Borrowing for Development

This study of a single World Bank-funded Scheme, the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project, is not just an evaluation of this project, but a means of discussing the larger issues that arise from this pattern of externally-funded development.

Romanticised Models and Reality

Civil Society edited by Sunil Khilnani and Sudipta Kaviraj; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001; pp x+330, £ 45 (hardback), £ 15.95 (paperback).

Society vs State?

Examination of the contemporary discourse about civil society, the non-party political process and political society in India and the political agendas which they support, with regard to their importance for identifying and articulating important political problems of our society.

Democratic Good Governance

Good governance espouses freedom of information, a strong legal system and efficient administration, backed by political mobilisation of the disadvantaged through movements or political parties. Despite the increasingly individualist premises of state theory, representative democracy still provides avenues for public debate on social issues. The emphasis should thus be on strengthening democratic institution rather than bypassing them through increased individual or governmental interventions.

Pages

Back to Top