Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Austerity in the Spotlight

  • Chapter
Indovation

Part of the book series: Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific Series ((CSAP))

  • 87 Accesses

Abstract

In Chapter 3, I examined how observations of an ennui-inducing austerity in India’s precursory knowledge economy began to change in the second half of the twentieth century. The 1979 OECD intergovernmental report Interfutures: Facing the Future makes a number of startling predictions about India’s future potential for presence at the world level.1 In this report there is a glimmer of the counter-discourse undertaken by globals invoking India’s future enlightenment. First, the report, with great foresight, predicts a shift in global hegemony from the West to East and the gradual decline in the relative weight of the US in the world economy resulting in a questioning of the power of that country to be a regulator of the world economic system.2 The report predicts an irreversible shift occurring up until 2029.3 In light of this shift the present developed economies will have become a minority force in terms of population and world production.4 The economic crisis of 2008 appears to be an initial stage in just such a momentous shift as the BRIC takes centre stage in accounting for 10 per cent of global income, despite heavy bifurcation by inequality and demonstrable austerity in the socio-cultural landscape in comparison to the much-publicized excesses of the developed world.5

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. M. A. Centeno and J. N. Cohen (2010) Global Capitalism: A Sociological Perspective (Cambridge: Polity), p. 21.

    Google Scholar 

  2. M. Featherstone (2002) ‘Cosmopolis: An Introduction’, Theory, Culture & Society, 19, 1–2, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. A. Toffler (1980) The Third Wave (New York: William Collins Sons), p. 354.

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. Mazzarella (2003) Shoveling Smoke: Advertising and Globalization in Contemporary India (Durham: Duke University Press Books), p. 6.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. R. Kothari (1988) ‘Class and Communalism in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 23, 49, 2589–92, p. 2589.

    Google Scholar 

  6. M. Mann (2004) ‘Torchbearers upon the Path of Progress: Britain’s Ideology of a “Moral and Material Progress” in India: An Introductory Essay’ in H. Fischer-Tiné and M. Mann (eds), Colonialism as Civilizing Mission (London: Wimbledon Publishing Company), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. Mishra (2006) ‘Relevance of Gandhism’ in S. K. Jolly (ed.), Reading Gandhi (New Delhi: Concept Publishing), 322–32, p. 325.

    Google Scholar 

  8. D. S. Kothari (1965) ‘Graduates for the Developing World’ in N. Calder (ed.), The World in 1984: The Complete New Scientist Series (Middlesex: Penguin Books), 67–9, p. 68.

    Google Scholar 

  9. N. R. N. Murthy (2009) A Better India: A Better World (New Delhi: Penguin Books India), p. 140.

    Google Scholar 

  10. N. Calder (1984) 1984 and Beyond (New York: Viking Press), p. 158.

    Google Scholar 

  11. V. S. Naipaul (2002) An Area of Darkness (London: Picador), pp. 44–5.

    Google Scholar 

  12. A. Mir, B. Mathew and R. Mir (2000) ‘The Codes of Migration: Contours of the Global Software Labor Market’, Cultural Dynamics, 12, 1, 5–33, p. 27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. S. Dasgupta (2008) ‘Success, Market, Ethics Information Technology and the Shifting Politics of Governance and Citizenship in the Indian Silicon Plateau’, Cultural Dynamics, 20, 3, 213–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. S. Lakha (1999) ‘The State, Globalization and Indian Middle-Class Identity’ in M. Pinches (ed.), Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia (New York: Routledge), 251–75.

    Google Scholar 

  15. U. K. Varma and S. K. Sasikumar (2005) ‘External Migration and Remittances: Trends, Policies, Impact and Development Potential’ in C. Mackenzie (ed.), Labour Migration in Asia: Protection of Migrant Workers, Support Services and Enhancing Development Benefits (Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM)), 309–58, p. 317.

    Google Scholar 

  16. V. Gayathri (2002) ‘Rethinking High-Skilled International Migration: Research and Policy Issues for India’s Information Economy: The Tertiary Education Research Database’ in International Mobility of Highly Skilled Workers: From Statistical Analysis to the Formulation of Policies (Paris: OECD), 201–12, p. 204.

    Google Scholar 

  17. S. R. Shukla (2003) India Abroad: Diasporic Cultures of Postwar America and England (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  18. D. Farrell, N. Kaka and S. Sturze (2005) Ensuring India’s Offshoring Future (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  19. S. Radhakrishnan (2008) ‘Examining the “Global” Indian Middle Class: Gender and Culture in the Silicon Valley/Bangalore Circuit’, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 29, 1, 7–20, p. 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. M. J. Gibney and R. Hansen (2005) Immigration and Asylum: From 1900 to the Present (Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio), p. 299.

    Google Scholar 

  21. B. R. Chiswick and T. J. Hatton (2003) ‘International Migration and the Integration of Labor Markets’ in M. D. Bordo, A. M. Taylor and J. G. Williamson (eds), Globalization in Historical Perspective (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), 65–120, p. 32.

    Google Scholar 

  22. M. A. Desai et al. (2009) ‘The Fiscal Impact of High-Skilled Emigration: Flows of Indians to the U.S.’, Journal of Development Economics, 88, 1, 32–44, p. 36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. A. W. Helweg (1987) ‘Why Leave India for America? A Case Study Approach to Understanding Migrant Behaviour’, International Migration (Geneva, Switzerland), 25, 2, 165–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. M. P. Fisher (1980) The Indians of New York City: A Study of Immigrants from India (New Delhi: Heritage Publishers).

    Google Scholar 

  25. K. I. Leonard (1997) The South Asian Americans (London: Greenwood Press), p. 72.

    Google Scholar 

  26. S. Ahmed (2007) India’s Long-Term Growth Experience: Lessons and Prospects (New Delhi: Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd.), p. 81.

    Google Scholar 

  27. D. M. Lenard (2006) ‘Arcelor Mittal: The Dawn of a Steel Giant’, Asia Times Online (Hong Kong: Asia Times Online Ltd.) 27 June. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/HF27Dk01.html, accessed on 27 June 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  28. P. Marsh (2006) ‘Lakshmi Mittal Talks to the FT’, Financial Times (London: Financial Times Ltd.) 22 December. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/460f212e-8f62–11db-9ba3–0000779e2340.html, accessed on 23 December 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  29. N. Karmali (2000) ‘Values First’ (New Delhi: Seminar Publications). http://www.india-seminar.com/2000/485/485interview.htm, accessed on 23 March 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  30. E. Luce (2007) In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India (New York: Doubleday).

    Google Scholar 

  31. W. Grimes (2007) ‘The Power and the Potential of India’s Economic Change’, The New York Times (New York: The New York Times Company) 17 January. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/books/17grim.html, accessed on 4 October 2008, p. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  32. D. Khanduja, V. Singla and R. Singh (2009) ‘Entrepreneurial Ambience of Engineering Education in India’, International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2, 4, 341–55, p. 341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. J. Dickinson and A. J. Bailey (2007) ‘(Re)Membering Diaspora: Uneven Geographies of Indian Dual Citizenship’, Political Geography, 26, 757–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. P. Mishra (2006) ‘The Myth of the New India’, The New York Times (New York: The New York Times Company) 6 July. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/06/opinion/06mishra.html?pagewanted=all, accessed on 24 July 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  35. V. Wadhwa et al. (2007) ‘America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs’ (U.C. Berkeley: Duke University School of Information) 4 January http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~anno/Papers/Americas_new_immigrant_entrepreneurs_I.pdf., accessed on 8 June 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  36. M. Sharma, P. Bhalla and P. K. Das (2004) Pride of the Nation: Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: From Human to Superhuman — a Saga (New Delhi: Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.), p. 115.

    Google Scholar 

  37. S. D. Rangnekar and D. B. Unny (2005) Realizing Brand India: The Changing Face of Contemporary India (New Delhi: Rupa and Co.), p. xii.

    Google Scholar 

  38. R. Venkataraman (2005) ‘Enabling the World’ in S. D. Rangnekar, D. Banerjee and E. P. Unny (eds), Realizing Brand India: The Changing Face of Contemporary India (New Delhi: Rupa & Co.), 12–19, p. 13.

    Google Scholar 

  39. S. Sassen (2008) ‘Two Stops in Today’s New Global Geographies: Shaping Novel Labor Supplies and Employment Regimes’, American Behavioral Scientist, 52, 3, 457–96, p. 464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. R. Halsall (2009) ‘The Discourse of Corporate Cosmopolitanism’, British Journal of Management, 20, s1, S136–S148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. T. F. Gieryn (2000) ‘A Space for Place in Sociology’, Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 463–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. L. Fernandes (2004) ‘The Politics of Forgetting: Class Politics, State Power and the Restructuring of Urban Space in India’, Urban Studies, 41, 12, 2415–30, p. 2418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. J. L. Goldsmith and T. Wu (2006) Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 143–4.

    Google Scholar 

  44. S. Castles (2001) ‘Studying Social Transformation’, International Political Science Review, 22, 1, 13–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. A. Pratt (2010) Austerity Business: 39 Tips for Doing More with Less (Chichester: John Wiley and Sons).

    Google Scholar 

  46. D. Kapur and J. McHale (2006) Sojourns and Software: Internationally Mobile Human Capital and High-Tech Industry Development in India, Ireland, and Israel (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  47. World Bank, World Development Report 1998/99 in A. Ong (2006) Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty (Durham: Duke University Press), p. 162.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  48. K. Datta (2010) ‘Indovation!’ Business Standard (New Delhi: Business Standard Ltd.) 7 June. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/indovation/397219/, accessed on 24 August 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  49. A. Karnani (2009) ‘Romanticising the Poor Harms the Poor’, Journal of International Development, 21, 1, 76–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. J. R. Faulconbridge et al. (2009) ‘The “War for Talent”: The Gatekeeper Role of Executive Search Firms in Elite Labour Markets’, Geoforum, 40, 5, 800–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. B. Groysberg, A. N. McLean and N. Nohria (2006) ‘Are Leaders Portable?’ Harvard Business Review, 84, 5, 92–100, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  52. D. Quinn (2004) The Irish in New Jersey: Four Centuries of American Life (Piscataway: Rivergate Books), p. 22.

    Google Scholar 

  53. H. J. Perkin (1996) The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World (London: Routledge), p. 4.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  54. N. Thrift (2008) ‘A Perfect Innovation Engine: The Rise of the Talent World’, Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 9, 1, 115–40, p. 128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. L. Soete (1985) ‘International Diffusion of Technology, Industrial Development and Technological Leapfrogging’, World Development, 13, 3, 409–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. T. Birtchnell (2012b) ‘Elites, Elements and Events: Practice Theory and Scale’, Journal of Transport Geography, 24, 497–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. S. K. Chakraborty and D. Chakraborty (2007) ‘The Economic Function in the Hindu Worldview: Its Perennial Social Relevance’, International Journal of Social Economics, 34, 10, 714–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. G. E. Mathew (2011) India’s Innovation Blueprint: How the World’s Largest Democracy is becoming an Innovation Superpower (Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  59. P. Cappelli et al. (2010) The India Way: How India’s Top Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  60. V. Rai and W. L. Simon (2008) Think India: The Rise of the World’s Next Superpower and What It Means for Every American (New York: Penguin Group).

    Google Scholar 

  61. J. Sen (2012) ‘Bullock Cart or Satellite Launch Vehicle? Controversies over Representing Science and Technology in India at the Science Museum in 1982’, South Asian History and Culture, 3, 3, 414–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. K. Roberts (2012) foreword to Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth by N. Radjou, J. Prabhu and S. Ahuja (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), p. x.

    Google Scholar 

  63. N. Radjou, J. Prabhu and S. Ahuja (2012) Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), p. i.

    Google Scholar 

  64. G. A. Oddie (2006) Imagined Hinduism: British Protestant Missionary Constructions of Hinduism, 1793–1900 (London: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd.), p. 49.

    Google Scholar 

  65. S. D. Sharma (2009) China and India in the Age of Globalization (New York: Cambridge University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  66. J. Hanlon (1978) ‘India Builds a Truck’, New Scientist, 80, 1123, 35–6, p. 35.

    Google Scholar 

  67. B. S. Mitra (1995) ‘India’s Informal Car’ (New York). http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=j000000020011025dr1v003ls&cat=a&ep=ASE, accessed on 14 September 2008, p. 10.

    Google Scholar 

  68. R. Jana (2009) ‘India’s Next Global Export: Innovation’, Businessweek (New York: Bloomberg) 2 December. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/dec2009/id2009121_864965.htm, accessed on 3 December 2010, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  69. A. Krishna (2003) ‘What is Happening to Caste? A View from Some North Indian Villages’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 62, 4, 1171–93, p. 1175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. P. N. Thomas (2005) ‘That Persistent “Other”: The Political Economy of Copyright in India’ in B. Bel et al. (eds), Media and Mediation (London: Sage Publications), 436–64, p. 443.

    Google Scholar 

  71. G. Barrett (2006) The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English (New York: McGraw-Hill Companies), p. 198.

    Google Scholar 

  72. B. S. Mitra (2006) ‘Grasssroots Capitalism Thrives in India’ in 2006 Index of Economic Freedom (New York: The Heritage Foundation), 39–47.

    Google Scholar 

  73. S. Krishna and J. Holla (2009) ‘Relocating Routines: The Role of Improvisation in Offshore Implementation of Software Processes’ in R. Hirschheim, A. Heinzl and J. Dibbern (eds), Information Systems Outsourcing (Berlin: Springer-Verlag), 423–40, p. 426.

    Google Scholar 

  74. S. Talukdar (2004) ‘Makeshift Miracles: The Indian Genius for Jugaad’, The Times of India (New Delhi: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.) 1 January.

    Google Scholar 

  75. N. Nilekani (2008) Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation (New York: Penguin Books).

    Google Scholar 

  76. R. Mantri (2010) ‘The Jugaad Myth’ (Bangalore: Takshashila Institution). http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2010/06/the-jugaad-myth/, accessed on 1 June 2010, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  77. R. T. Krishnan (2010) From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India (Bangalore: The Utpreraka Foundation).

    Google Scholar 

  78. R. Sagar (2009) ‘State of Mind: What Kind of Power Will India Become?’ International Affairs, 85, 4, 801–16, p. 812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. R. Bhoothalingam (2010) ‘Ways of Thinking: Psycholinguistic Reflections on Sino-Indian Relationships and Potentialities’, ORF Discourse, 5, 2, 1–8, pp. 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  80. D. K. Dash (2010) ‘India Leads World in Road Deaths: WHO’, The Times of India (New Delhi: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.) 17 August. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-leads-world-in-road-deaths-WHO/articleshow/4900415.cms, accessed on 18 Aug 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  81. M. Husain, A. Haroon and A. Mazhar (2009) ‘A Study in Minutiae of Road Traffic Accidents and Associated Mortality within 72 Hours of Hospita lisation’, Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine, 31, 3, 189–95.

    Google Scholar 

  82. P. S. Ranade (2009) Infrastructure Development and Its Environmental Impact (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company), p. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  83. M. Bahree (2010) ‘Innovation with a Dash of Paprika’, Forbes.com (New York: Forbes.com) 7 April. http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/07/india-pepsico-beverages-emerging-markets-sales-and-marketing-sanjeev-chadha.html, accessed on 24 August 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  84. D. Athavale (2010) ‘India’s Elite Find Gandhi Relevant in Today’s World’, The Times of India (New Delhi: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.) 25 September. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010–09–25/pune/28218593_1_gandhiji-mahatma-gandhi-cricketer, accessed on 24 August 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  85. M. Reddy (2010) ‘Indo-Vation: Tapping the Indian Market’, Forbes India (New Delhi: Forbes India) 28 December. http://business.in.com/article/insead/indovation-tapping-the-indian-market/20222/1, accessed on 16 January 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  86. K. Nath (2008) India’s Century: The Age of Entrepreneurship in the World’s Biggest Democracy (New York: McGraw-Hill), pp. 4–8.

    Google Scholar 

  87. T. Birtchnell (2011) ‘Jugaad as Systemic Risk and Disruptive Innovation in India’, Contemporary South Asia, 19, 4, 357–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  88. N. K. Kulkarni (2010) Why India is the Perfect Testing Ground for World Saving Innovations (Los Angeles: Good Worldwide Inc.). http://www.good.is/post/indovation-why-india-is-the-perfect-testing-ground-for-huge-break-throughs/, accessed on 14 September 2012.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology, University of Wollongong, Australia

    Thomas Birtchnell (Lecturer)

Authors
  1. Thomas Birtchnell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2013 Thomas Birtchnell

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Birtchnell, T. (2013). Austerity in the Spotlight. In: Indovation. Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137027412_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation