Globalising Everyday Consumption in India

Globalising Everyday Consumption in India
Author: Bhaswati Bhattacharya
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2021-07-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429603517

This book brings together historical and ethnographic perspectives on Indian consumer identities. Through an in-depth analysis of local, regional, and national histories of marketing, regulatory bodies, public and domestic practices, this interdisciplinary volume charts the emergence of Indian consumer society and discusses commodity consumption as a main feature of Indian modernity. Nationalist discourse was shaped by moral struggles over consumption patterns that became a hallmark of middle-class identity. But a number of chapters demonstrate how a wide range of social strata were targeted as markets for everyday commodities associated with global lifestyles early on. A section of the book illustrates how a new group of professionals engaged in advertising trying to create a market shaped tastes and discourses and how campaigns provided a range of consumers with guidance on ‘modern lifestyles’. Chapters discussing advertisements for consumables like coffee and cooking oil, show these to be part of new public cultures. The ethnographic chapters focus on contemporary practices and consumption as a main marker of class, caste and community. Throughout the book consumption is shown to determine communal identities, but some chapters also highlight how it reshapes intimate relationships. The chapters explore the middle-class family, microcredit schemes, and metropolitan youth cultures as sites in which consumer citizenship is realised. The book will be of interest to readers from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, history, geography, sociology, South Asian studies, and visual cultures.

Globalisation and the Challenges of Development in Contemporary India

Globalisation and the Challenges of Development in Contemporary India
Author: Sita Venkateswar
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2016-03-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811004544

This volume brings together multidisciplinary, situated and nuanced analyses of contingent issues framing a rapidly changing India in the 21st century. It moves beyond the ready dichotomies that are often extended to understand India as a series of contrasts and offers new insights into the complex realities of India today, thereby enabling us to anticipate the decades to come. The editors focus on three major themes, each discussed in a section: The first section, Framing the Macro-Economic Environment, defines the framework for interrogating globalisation and socio-economic changes in India over the last few decades of the 20th century spiraling into India in the 21st century. The next section, Food Security and Natural Resources, highlights critical considerations involved in feeding a burgeoning population. The discussions pose important questions in relation to the resilience of both people and planet confronting increasingly unpredictable climate-induced scenarios. The final section, Development, Activism and Changing Technologies, discusses some of the social challenges of contemporary India through the lens of inequalities and emergent activisms. The section concludes with an elaboration of the potential and promise of changing technologies and new social media to build an informed and active citizenry across existing social divides.

Bridging Global Indian Diaspora

Bridging Global Indian Diaspora
Author: Dr. Bhishma Agnihotri
Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan
Total Pages: 549
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9353225949

In 2001; Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked Bhishma Agnihotri to serve as the nation’s first Ambassador-at-Large for the Indian diaspora. Agnihotri; a non-resident Indian (NRI); had been serving as the chancellor of Southern University’s Law Center; but he readily agreed to accept the position. Although he faced opposition in India to his appointment as ambassador; he was officially appointed in 2001 and moved from Baton Rouge; Louisiana to New York just days after the September 11th terrorist attacks. His mandate from Prime Minister Vajpayee was simple. He was charged with strengthening the relationship between the nation of India and the Indian diaspora and; at the same time; with helping to elevate India’s position in the world. Agnihotri travelled the world and met with NRIs and people of Indian origin (PIO). He worked with NRIs and PIOs from all backgrounds; genders; and religions in an attempt to strengthen their ties to their mother country. This book highlights Dr. Agnihotri’s accomplishments as Ambassador-at-Large. It also touches on his journey from India to America to pursue higher education; becoming a chancellor of a law center; volunteering his time to many organisations; and moving on to the worthy task of Bridging Global Indian Diaspora.

Globalisation and the Middle Classes in India

Globalisation and the Middle Classes in India
Author: Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2008-12-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134068840

This book fills an important gap in the existing literature on economic liberalization and globalisation in India by providing much needed ethnographic data from those affected by neoliberal globalisation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, it reveals the complexity of the globalisation process and describes and accounts for the contradictory attitudes of the lower middle classes. The authors challenge the notion of a homogeneous Indian middle class as being the undoubted beneficiaries of recent neoliberal economic reforms, showing that while the lower middle classes are generally supportive of the recent economic reforms, they remain doubtful about the long term benefits of the country's New Economic Policy and liberalisation. Significantly, this book discusses and analyzes both the economic and cultural sides to globalisation in India, providing much-needed data in relation to several dimensions including the changing costs of living; household expenditure, debt and consumerism; employment and workplace restructuring; gender relations and girls’ education; global media and satellite television; and the significance of English in a globalising India. Globalisation and the Middle Classes in India will be of interest to scholars and students working in the fields of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Development Studies, as well as Asian Studies - in particular studies of South Asia and India - and Globalisation Studies.

An Everyday Geography of the Global South

An Everyday Geography of the Global South
Author: Jonathan Rigg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2007-06-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134184913

The book will be an 'everyday' geography of the Global South that places 'development' in the background and brings detailed, grounded understanding of the ways in which individuals and household make a living.

Domestic Goddesses

Domestic Goddesses
Author: Henrike Donner
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2016-05-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317148487

Based on extensive fieldwork in Calcutta, this book provides the first ethnography of how middle-class women in India understand and experience economic change through transformations of family life. It explores their ideas, practices and experiences of marriage, childbirth, reproductive change and their children's education, and addresses the impact that globalization is having on the new middle classes in Asia more generally from a domestic perspective. By focusing on maternity, the book explores subjective understandings of the way intimate relationships and the family are affected by India's liberalization policies and the neo-liberal ideologies that accompany through an analysis of often competing ideologies and multiple practices. And by drawing attention to women's agency as wives, mothers and grandmothers within these new frameworks, Domestic Goddesses discusses the experiences of different age groups affected by these changes. Through a careful analysis of women's narratives, the domestic sphere is shown to represent the key site for the remaking of Indian middle-class citizens in a global world.

Tackling Long-Term Global Energy Problems

Tackling Long-Term Global Energy Problems
Author: Daniel Spreng
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2012-01-02
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9400723334

This book makes a case for a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to energy research—one that brings more of the social sciences to bear. Featuring eight studies from across the spectrum of the social sciences, each applying multiple disciplines to one or more energy-related problems, the book demonstrates the strong analytical and policy-making potential of such a broadened perspective. Case studies include: energy transitions of households in developing countries, the ‘curse of oil’, politics and visions for renewables, economics and ethics in emissions trading, and carbon capture and storage.

News, Publics and Politics in Globalising India

News, Publics and Politics in Globalising India
Author: Sahana Udupa
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2015-06-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107099463

The first ethnography to examine the role of urban transformation, caste and language in shaping India's contemporary news culture.

Everyday Ayurveda

Everyday Ayurveda
Author: Bhaswati Bhattacharya
Publisher: Random House India
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2015-09-10
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 8184007523

Time is scarce and precious in today’s world and we seek solutions that are quick. While allopathic medicine tends to focus on the management of disease, the ancient study of Ayurveda provides us with holistic knowledge for preventing disease and eliminating its root cause. Dr Bhaswati Bhattacharya takes you through a day in the life of Ayurvedic living.

Globalisation and Governance in India

Globalisation and Governance in India
Author: Harihar Bhattacharyya
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2015-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317526392

This book examines the impact of globalization on some vital aspects of Indian politics, its structures and processes, and identifies the challenges to globalization itself, in order to highlight India’s complex and fascinating story. In 1991, India officially embraced the policy of neo-liberal reforms by signing the GATT agreement, which exposed the country, its society, culture and institutions to the various forces of globalization. Globalization as such may not be new to India, for the country has been embracing the influence of external cultures and civilisations for millennia, but the post-1991 reforms policy marked a significant shift, from a predominantly social welfare state and a command economy to a predominantly market driven one. Through a range of disciplinary perspectives, the authors analyse how India’s version of secularism, communal harmony, nationhood, the public sphere, social justice, and the rights of aboriginal communities came under attack from the forces of the new dispensation. The book goes on to show how globalisation in India has posed fresh challenges to political economy, democracy, federalism, decentralization, parliamentary system, judiciary, and the parliamentary Left. Critically reflecting on themes in the context of India’s globalisation that are local, regional, national and global, this book will be of interest to those in the fields of South Asian Politics, Globalisation, and International Relations.