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

PoliticsSubscribe to Politics

Disobedience and Social Sciences

One way of expressing solidarity with the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have suffered in this war is to reject offers of collaboration and support in research in the social sciences and humanities from governments that do not know the meaning of accountability.

War and Australian Elections

Australia's ruling Conservative coalition is set to reap the advantages of its recent 'tough' policies, following the September 11 strikes on the US and Australia's willing participation in the US-led alliance. Yet the ailing economy and rising unemployment remain a cause for worry as election day nears.

Uttar Pradesh : Postures and Promises

Elections in UP have often served up the writing on the wall to governments at the centre. The BJP understandably sees its performance in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state as critical for its fortunes at the centre. Last month the man chosen by the BJP high command to spearhead its electoral strategy in UP completed a year in office.

Politics of Indian Representation in Malaysia

Political parties claiming to represent the Indian community in Malaysia have, thus far survived as minority partners in a broad-based Malayan coalition. These have also evolved around the personality of the leader and thrive on the leader's equations with the prime minister. This is in increasing contrast to popular non-official discourse that insists that the present state of economic and social marginalisation of Indians can be represented within a framework that emphasises multi-ethnic politics with nationalities and groups being given equal status.

Calcutta Diary

In the fiftieth year since the commencement of the republican Constitution, India is safely re-established as an impeccable feudal realm. The Gwalior funeral merely confirmed the reality of Indian democracy doubling up as a feudal oligarchy.

A Scholar's View

Mexico’s Political Awakening by Vikram K Chand; University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, US, 2001; pp 270, $ 20.00 (paperback), $ 40 (hardback).

Punjab : Covering Up Non-Performance

Anti-incumbency has been an important in elections in Punjab, especially in the last decade. This was last evident in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections which were swept by the Congress. Yet chief minister and leader of the ruling AD-BJP coalition, Prakash Singh Badal, seems to have learnt little from experience and seems set on the same electoral gambles that had cost his party dear in the 1999 elections.

A Political Economy of Education in India - II

The paper explores the political economy factors that influenced the evolution of educational institutions and shaped the legislation that now governs the education sector in UP. The study focuses on the extent of and reasons for teachers' participation in politics, the evolution and activities of their unions, the size of their representation in the state legislature and the link between these and other factors such as the enactment of particular education acts in UP, teacher salaries and appointments, and the extent of centralisation in the management of schools. It attempts to draw out implications for the functioning of schools. The first part of this paper looked at the role of teacher's associations and their evolution as a powerful political pressure group in UP. The second part now analyses the impact the teacher's associations have had on the system of finances in UP, and its impact on general educational levels in the state. Even as strikes, demonstrations, sit-ins in support of more emoluments and benefits have become powerful tools in the hands of these associations, schools see a large degree of absenteeism and apathy towards students, while the state government remains unable to meet non-salary expenditure. [The paper has been published in two parts, this being the second part. The first part appeared last week.]

A Political Economy of Education in India - I

The paper explores the political economy factors that influenced the evolution of educational institutions and shaped the legislation that now governs the education sector in UP. The study focuses on the extent of and reasons for teachers' participation in politics, the evolution and activities of their unions, the size of their representation in the state legislature and the link between these and other factors such as the enactment of particular education acts in UP, teacher salaries and appointments, and the extent of centralisation in the management of schools. It attempts to draw out implications for the functioning of schools. [The paper is published in two parts, this being the first part.]

Civil Aviation Environment in India

The Indian civil aviation sector that showed impressive profits in the pre-liberalisation era has been adversely affected since the onset of the government's open-sky policy in the late 1980s. Attempts to modernise and streamline the airlines' functioning remain stymied due to technological obsolescence, successive changes in government in the mid-1990s; lack of a coherent policy on private participation as well as recalcitrance on the part of politically affiliated unions of pilots and controllers. However, as borne out by several expert recommendations, a reverse in the fortunes of India's beleaguered airlines can only occur with the dawn of professional management.

The Constitution as Instrument of Social Change

Our Constitution, Government and Politics by M V Pylee; Universal Law Publishing Company, Delhi, 2000; pp ix + 198, Rs 185.

Friends, Foes and Understanding

The language of political economy, international relations and almost the entire range of social sciences remain trapped in metaphors of fear and anxiety that in turn have led to a security-centric universe. Dialogue, a critically existential encounter and an ethical attitude are ruled out. The need then is to go beyond the authoritarian texts and their 'anthropological truths' to find out how in a world rife with contentious politics, themes of dialogue, trust and accommodation can work themselves out.

Pages

Back to Top