Globalisation and its discontents: An Indian response

Abstract

Based on recent ethnographic research among salaried workers and their families in West Bengal, India this paper examines the lived experiences of people in lower‐middle class households under a globalising Indian economy. The major finding from this study reveals that there is a stark contradiction between the rhetoric and reality of globalisation, economic liberalisation and structural adjustment programs for the lower middle classes. The vast majority of my informants have not benefited economically over the past nine years, since the implementation of structural adjustment programs and the New Economic Policy (NEP) of 1991. However, while they remain doubtful about the long‐term benefits of the NEP and liberalisation they positively evaluate many aspects of cultural globalisation. This paper focuses on their ambivalence towards globalisation, and examines their criticisms and their simultaneous and paradoxical espousal of the government rhetoric of work place restructuring and global competitiveness.

Keywords:

• Globalisation
• Economic reforms
• Ethnographic methods
• Qualitative research
• Workplace restructuring
• Culture
• White collar work
• Privatisation
• India