empowerment

How has neo-liberalism transformed the economic structure and policies of India? And what are the politico-economic implications of such policies for marginalised populations? Following Karl Polanyi’s theory of “double movement”, this paper argues that while market liberalism has helped India overcome the slow so-called “Hindu rate of growth”, it has adversely affected the economic interests of the poor. It further argues that the expansion of the market (first movement) has led to various social dislocations in the lives of the poor.

Lack of information and multiple intermediaries have been seen as major obstacles preventing farmers from obtaining a higher price for their produce. Thus, providing information on market prices to farmers and removing intermediaries from the supply chain, have often been considered means to empower farmers. This article argues that intermediaries are integral to any market exchange and notions of disintermediation mask processes that are replacing one form of intermediation by another, usually a corporatized or more vertically integrated one.