FREE
for Members
The Contradictions of "Combined Development"
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Wenner-Gren Foundation, 470 Park Avenue South (between 31st and 32nd Streets), 8th Floor
Over the last two decades, the spectacular growth of the Indian economy has been integrally related to deepening forms of inequality and heightened forms of direct and indirect forms of state violence. Hyperconsumerism, in its various guises, by a small yet sizeable "middle class," land grabs by a variety of national and global conglomerates (especially mining companies), and the forced relocation of millions of poor and indigenous rural dwellers, are some of the highlights of the current development model. This paper seeks to explore some of the contradictions in this model by analyzing multiple environmental crises (ranging from natural resource privatization and depletion to enclosures and denial of livelihood rights) that have emerged. It argues that efforts by the state and capital to "manage" such crises not only uphold the basic tenets of a "growth" model but also deepen conditions of conflict and violence borne by the poor majority.
Registration Pricing
This event is free for all, but registration is required.
A reception will precede the meeting at 6:00 pm.
Speaker
Ananth Aiyer
University of Michigan–Flint
Ananth Aiyer is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the International and Global Studies Program at the University of Michigan, Flint. He has conducted research on gold mining in Nicaragua and is currently working on the politics of water in India. Aiyer has published on a range of topics related to political economy and globalization. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Critique of Anthropology and is one of the Editors-in-Chief of Dialectical Anthropology.