Politics

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).

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.]

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 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.