ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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'Economics of Solidarity'

Today the capitalist system appears to be the only efficient mode of economic organisation. However, there appears to be increasing resistance to the capitalist order, evident in the people’s movements witnessed from time to time when the livelihoods of the poor and the marginalised are threatened. This paper presents an understanding of the new development epistemology of the deprived, the powerless, and those who are at the margins at all levels – local, national and global. It discusses how solidarity economics appears to be paving the way for an alternate, new type of economic development.

Economic Growth and Social Cost: Need for Institutional Reforms

The socialisation of private costs under the private enterprise system causes a metabolic rift between humans and nature. Over time this rift leads to economic inequality and degradation of natural resources, though these social costs remain unaccounted for. Global capital continues to shift the cost of its reproduction to the developing countries and the resulting economic crisis is not merely a systemic one - beyond a limit, this inequality gives rise to a culture of alienation, breaking down social cohesion, and culminating in an institutional crisis.

Is Rajasthan Heading towards Caste War?

Even as one seeks to resolve the various conflicts centring on reservations in Rajasthan, one needs to step aside and ask a basic question: What is the quantum of development gains the state could potentially generate so that the deprived of all social groups benefit?

Upstream vs Downstream

No alternative to rainwater harvesting may be available for ensuring rural livelihood in a state like Rajasthan that faces frequent droughts. But it is imperative to examine whether these traditional methods lead to uneven recharge of groundwater between the upstream and downstream. This paper analyses the status of groundwater availability in three villages of Alwar district, which are located in the upstream and downstream of the Arwari basin, where a large number of communities have constructed numerous rainwater harvesting structures.

Declining Production Conditions of Raw Wool

While the requirement of raw wool for the carpet and other industries is increasing, it is questionable whether wool production by the sheep husbandry subsector will be able to keep pace with the demand. This paper examines the production conditions of raw wool in Rajasthan, the largest producing state, particularly with reference to the shrinkage and degradation of grazing lands.

Vicious Circle of Impoverisation-Woollen Khadi Institutions of Rajasthan

The khadi institutions in Rajasthan have neither been able to stand the test of cost efficiency not make any significant contribution to employment and income generation for the artisan households. The root cause for this failure is lack of demand limiting the market for their woollen products. There is a need to revamp the existing production paradigm which, since it tacks correspondence with commercial viability, competitive rationale and the spirit of self-sufficiency, has pushed demand and marketability aspects of woollen khadi products to the periphery, 'KHADI' continues to be one of the largest forms of organised intervention of the government of India to generate rural employment and income. It insulates a techno- economically viable process of production in small and rural-industrial households [Ray 1991], Although the process has been nurtured since the Second Five-Year Plan (1956-61), importance has been attached to it especially after the economy was opened to the forces of liberalisation. The. apprehension is that increase in the incidence of unemployment would be the immediate fallout of the global integration of the economy. The remedy sought is through invigorating the rural non-farm sector, the industrial component of which fails largely under the purview of the khadi sector, with renewed emphasis. Tall claims are made by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). the apex organisation, about its achievements, and a huge sum of money is allocated by the central government in each successive plan to continue the same 'production paradigm' in the hope that such an organised intervention would eventually stand the test of being one of the most dependable instruments in generating employment and income for the rural poor. The present paper evaluates how efficiently and to what extent khadi institutions are able to achieve these objectives, and analyses the causes of the vicious circle of impoverisation the institutions are beset with.

Development Just Going Round in Circles

Development! Just Going Round in Circles?
Sunil Ray Reviving a Rural Industry Silk Producers and Officials in India and Bangladesh, 1880s to 1980s by William Van Schendel; University Press, Dhaka University, Dhaka, 1995; pp 249, Tk 275.

In the Shadow of Kotris-An Analysis of Wool Markets of Rajasthan

An Analysis of Wool Markets of Rajasthan Sunil Ray The marketing of raw wool in Rajasthan is embedded in multiple exchange relations. Conventions, contractual interlinkages and asymmetry of information are the rules which dictate the process of price formation of raw wool. This continues to happen in spite of government interventions which sought to make changes in the exchange structure by means of controlling the behaviour in the market place.

Farm - Non-Farm Interaction in a Labour Surplus Economy

The growth of the labour-intensive rural non-farm sector is seen as the solution to the problem of rural unemployment. Inter-sectoral linkages between the farm and non-farm sectors are expected to generate this growth, but the inequitable structure of the agrarian economy acts as a constraint Land redistribution is a prerequisite for the expansion of the domestic market for labour-intensive non-farm goods and hence for the development of this sector.

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