VULNERABILITY AND GLOBALISATION Perspectives and Analyses from India

Globalisation, for some, is the most effective route to end poverty, while others view it as the source of all contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural ills. Taking a middle path, some scholars view globalisation as a process, which, though historically inevitable, can be managed for alleviating the vulnerabilities resulting from it if not for reaping its promised benefits.

The papers in this volume, written by economists and sociologists, provide perspectives on, and analyse the process of globalisation by addressing the following questions:

(a) In what ways can the process of globalisation be negotiated or managed so as to create a degree of social balance between the imperatives of growth and justice?

(b) How can the respective boundaries of the state and the market be redefined so that the impulse to growth does not exclude institutions that address both justice and equality?

(c) In what ways can both a democratic polity and an active civil society contribute to this process?

The information and analyses in this volume, it is hoped, will contribute to better policies on how to manage vulnerabilities on account of globalisation and lead to better outcomes for the poor and vulnerable.

N. Jayaram is Professor of Research Methodology at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has previously taught Sociology at Bangalore University and Goa University, and Indian Studies at The University of the West Indies

(St. Augustine), Trinidad and Tobago. Earlier he was the Director of Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. His areas of interest include theory and methods, sociology of education, political sociology, and the sociology of Indian diaspora. His recent publications include The Diversities in the Indian Diaspora (ed.), The Indian Diaspora (ed.), On Civil Society: Issues and Perspectives (ed.), Higher Education and Equality of Opportunities: Cross-National Perspectives (co-edited with Fred Lazin and Matt Evans), and Social Conflict (2nd edition) (co-edited with Satish Saberwal). He is the Managing Editor of Sociological Bulletin (Journal of the Indian Sociological Society).

D. Rajasekhar is Professor at the Centre for Decentralisation and Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. His areas of specialisation are decentralisation, micro-finance, social protection for the unorganised workers, and rural development. He has published extensively on these themes. He is currently engaged in a research project undertaken in collaboration with Oxford University and London School of Economics.