Wolfson SARC Event: Subverting the social question: India in comparative perspective
Convener: Dr Indrajit Roy
Speakers: Professor Jan Breman (Amsterdam Institute of Social Research), Barbara Harriss-White (Chair), Nandini Gooptu (Discussant), Muhammed Ali Jan (Discussant)
India today is in the throes of a transition away from the developmental state to a neoliberal one. What has been the outcome of this transition for the social question, or the contradictions between India’s different social classes, especially the laboring poor?
In this lecture, Professor Breman contends that the social question has been effectively subverted in India. He will first trace the emergence of the social question in India during the decades of the developmental state, and then chart the ways in which the state and societal actors negotiated this question and eventually subverted it as India embraced the globalized world order during the 1980s. He will conclude with reflections on the fate of the social question elsewhere in Asia.
Registration for this event is recommended. Please email indrajit.roy@qeh.ox.ac.uk to reserve a place.
