Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Ramachandra Guha: Under cover of Covid-19, Modi regime has stepped up its attack on Indian democracy

2020 has been a bad year for the health of Indians and for the health of Indian democracy too. The Modi-Shah regime, which is authoritarian by instinct and belief, has used the pandemic to further undermine the processes of constitutional democracy and strengthen its hold over State and society. In pursuit of its ambitions, the… Read More Ramachandra Guha: Under cover of Covid-19, Modi regime has stepped up its attack on Indian democracy

Dilip

Julia Conley – Amid surging worldwide poverty, planet's 500 wealthiest got $1.8 trillion richer in 2020

Bloomberg’s year-end report on the wealth of the world’s billionaires shows that the richest 500 people on the planet added $1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, accumulating a total net worth of $7.6 trillion.  The Bloomberg Billionaires Index recorded its largest annual gain in the list’s history last year, with a 31% increase in the… Read More Julia Conley – Amid surging worldwide poverty, planet's 500 wealthiest got $1.8 trillion richer in 2020

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan – Himalayan chessboard: India fishes for advantage in unstable Nepal

A perception that India is supporting ongoing instability in Nepal is likely to alienate its people and political parties. Media reports in India indicate that “political and government sources” prefer mid-term general elections in Nepal. The current political turmoil in Nepal has grown out of a leadership challenge to Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli from… Read More Bharat Bhushan – Himalayan chessboard: India fishes for advantage in unstable Nepal

Dilip

Didier Fassin: The blind spots of left populism

NB: Aside from its useful political reflections, the most important theoretical insight in this essay is this one: ‘Populism is not an ideology but the discursive strategy that sets up an opposition between the elite and the people and is therefore able to accommodate various institutional frameworks.’ In other words, populism is a rhetorical style that… Read More Didier Fassin: The blind spots of left populism

Dilip

Subir Sinha: COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India

Numerous news outlets and activist groups in India have reported an increase in trafficking, bonded labour, and slave-like working conditions in the past weeks. The two main stories were the rescue of young boys from a basement bangle factory in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the rescue of young girls from sex work and domestic servitude. Instead of seeing increases in trafficked… Read More Subir Sinha: COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India

Dilip

Timothy Garton Ash: The future of liberalism

in many relatively free countries we have something close to a corporate-plutocratic-oligarchic stranglehold on the state. This needs to be broken, by democratic means, or else the electoral procedures of democracy will continue to be exploited to subvert liberalism, as populists (sometimes themselves plutocrats) stir up unhappy majorities..    Faced with creeping authoritarianism, liberals need… Read More Timothy Garton Ash: The future of liberalism

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: The Kashmir valley has rejected PM Narendra Modi's 'Gram Swaraj'

Prime Minister Modi has described the just completed third tier local body elections to the District Development Councils (DDCs) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as realisation of Mahatama Gandhi’s vision of “Gram Swaraj”. However, they are hardly likely to satisfy local Kashmiri aspirations for the restoration of basic democratic freedoms or dampen international criticism. The DDC’s governance mandate is… Read More Bharat Bhushan: The Kashmir valley has rejected PM Narendra Modi's 'Gram Swaraj'

Dilip