Globalisierung und politische Ökonomie der Armut in Indien -

Description

Between 1984 and 1991 India was experiencing the most serious economic transformation process since its independence. Liberalization, export orientation and globalization are the buzzwords that the country's economic elite has adopted. Foreign companies saw the then 300 million-strong middle class as a market of the future. The book looks at India Today, six years after the start of structural adjustment policies supported by the IMF and World Bank. The country's economic, political and social problems have not diminished. Between 1990 and 1992 alone, the percentage of Indians living below the poverty line increased from 35.5 to 40.7 percent, according to the state statistics agency. These five percentage points still conceal 57 million people. The Congress Party, which began liberalizing the economy after its election victory in June 1991, finds itself increasingly on the defensive politically because the economic and social recovery process it promised has so far failed to materialize. In several elections to state parliaments, parties have now been able to assert themselves that successfully addressed the deficiencies in politics felt by many voters with populist measures, such as the heavy subsidization of basic foodstuffs. It was not only then that it became clear that food has a political dimension. Policies can cause people to lose access to an adequate food supply. On the other hand, insufficient food supply can also lead to the overthrow of governments. The field research for the present paper occurred at a time when India was in a severe economic and political crisis. An inflation rate that was very high by Indian standards, especially for basic foodstuffs, determined the 18 months in which the author conducted his interviews in a fishing settlement in the southern Indian metropolis of Madras. No topic was raised more frequently by the people than the steadily rising food prices and their daily concerns about securing food for their families. This paper addresses the issues raised by these people. In particular, it deals with the question of how food prices could skyrocket to such an extent, even though - the newspapers reported it constantly - the country's food production was higher than ever before. She tries to shed light on these problems from the perspective of political economy, i.e. with a view to the power structures existing in Indian society, which are also influenced exogenously. In this sense, it deals with the interconnections between poverty and wealth on different levels (text of book in German language)