Background

The first decade of 21st century marked histrionic changes in socio-economic and political history of human society across the geographical boundaries. Emergence of India as a global economic power in the new millennium altered the socio-political equations of global social order. Following Washington Consensus, the post liberalisation model of development in India was grounded in the neoclassical economic principles of liberalisation, stabilisation, and privatisation. The resultant spiralling gross economic growth in the country gave a new status to India in the globalised international political space. India's rapid economic expansion has raised global interest in its complex society. But the equation between social development and positive gross indicators of economic growth has always been contested with the realities in the ground. In spite of the expansion of a prosperous urban middle class populace, the age old social inequalities based on caste, gender, ethnicity and religion still persist. Planned development in the last six decade was not able uplift the marginalised communities from the clutches of underdevelopment. While a miniscule new age entrepreneurs and professionals took advantage of the situation, most of the dalits, adivasis and other marginalised communities remained at the bottom of most indicators of human development. The development model of post liberalisation era deepened the existing divides and created new divides in the society. Thus the rapid transformation of the Indian economy resulted in a crisis of social transformation in the country.

The Sociological Turn

The failure of development economics necessitated a paradigm shift in understanding development. Now development is more about 'social' than about economy; more about the transformation of the whole of society than about economic indices. Thus Sociology as a discipline has much to offer to understand the dynamics of social transformation in the country. The sociology of social change and development itself has undergone conceptual refinement with current research in the area of social transformation. Social transformation implies an underlying notion of the way society and culture change in response to various factors: economic, political, social, etc. The process may result in positive outcome or entail a crisis itself.

Crisis of Governance

The crisis of these transformations should read in line with the political economy of neoliberal policies. Too much emphasis upon absolute high growth rates in terms of income, industrial, agricultural and external sector along with poor growth of social sector (health, education and environment) will fail to sustain the high levels of development for a longer period. Indian government is gradually withdrawing its hands from public sector expenditure and the greatest victims of this disinvestment /privatization processes the crucial sectors health and education sectors. These structural readjustment programmes of the state in the post reform period resulted in an ambivalent anomic social order among the deprived segments. They are the badly affected victims of this transition. The state moves away from the responsibility and assigns it on the 'victims' themselves.

The state itself is in a paradox that the regulatory power of the state/society got fragmented and many external and invisible agencies are playing the major roles. The recent spate of corruption scams brought out the invincible nexus of polity, industry, media and other power brokers. The structure of governance changes over a period of time and the transitions are more rapid in this contemporary globalised political economy. The tools and mode of operationalisation of state apparatus changes but the plight of the marginalised remained the same. Apart from the socially excluded segments the 'urban middle class' also voices against the governance deficit in the country. The civil society protagonists are trying to cash out of the situation. Thus it is important to understand the structure and dynamics of Indian state in the changed geo-political economy and how far it generates the crisis of social transformation in the country.

Crisis of Extremism

The development model which is primarily economic left behind many social and philosophical questions in the development of society unattended. The ramification of this model includes issues with cultural social and economical dimensions. Even when India had 8-9% growth rate the trickle down philosophy failed to work and the livelihood opportunities of large masses came under threat. The withdrawal of government from the direct involvement of development and welfare gave way to potential to extremist reactions, especially the leftwing extremism rooted in the most underdeveloped regions of India. It has grown out as an issue and even now the government is planning special development packages to these regions not as its responsibility but as an anti-extremist strategy. Various ethnic groups are facing threats from the market onslaught to maintain their distinctive identity and peaceful life. Many cultural groups are either feeling worthless in the new market rationality or their worth is considered as a commodity in industries like tourism.

Ethnic and identity conflicts have got worsened in the new times and religious activities have taken a political face. This has paved way for the politicisation of religion taking away the functional need of religion in society. One could easily carve out the need for a sociological intervention and provides ample space for retrospection.

Crisis of Development and Issues of Marginalisation

As discussed above the neo-classical/liberal model of economic development generated more questions than answers. Ambivalence became the hallmark of the development trajectory. While India's share in billionaires' list burgeoned every year, the planning commission has to appoint committees after committees to cut down the Below Poverty Line to claim a reduction in poverty in India. The fruits of liberalisation have essentially been grabbed by an inflated middle class and the plight of the poor has remained the same. Even when India has reached self-sufficiency in food grain production, farmer suicides in various parts of the country is common. While international or indigenous multinationals exhausted the human as well as natural resources in the country, the dalits, adivasis and other minorities were deracinated from their culture, social network, livelihood, etc. Temples of Modern India turned out to be to be cemeteries for the marginalised Indians. Thus it is imperative to introspect the crisis of development and how the process became counterproductive for the marginalised segments in the society.

With these contemporary issues taking place and the structural maladjustments sprouting up taking a heavy toll on the nation building process, the issues discussed above are to be give due importance. The present theme of the Indian Sociological Society annual conference, 'Sociology and the Crisis of Social Transformation in India', is sure to delve deep into various dimensions of the burning issue. The conference includes three Symposiums, namely, Crisis in Governance, Crisis of Extremisms and the Crisis of Development and the Issues of Marginalisation.