The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

PERSPECTIVE

Globalisation: Theme tune of our times
by Anthony Giddens

Anthony Giddens

Globalisation is at the heart of our runaway world. It means that in many respects we now share a common fate. We have a common responsibility to curb the excesses that now — as in the case of global warming — cast a shadow over our collective future.

For better or worse, we now live in a global age. I distinguish the global age from globalisation as such. The global age is an epoch in the development of humanity. It refers to the fact that our conditions of life, conditioned by a new-found and intensive interdependence, are different from those of preceding generations. It involves new institutions, existing uneasily alongside the old; and these institutions affect the intimacies of our lives as well as large-scale systems and organisations. Globalisation, by contrast, is a set of processes: it refers to the dynamic influences at work in the global age.

Globalisation is the theme tune of our times. What does it actually mean? It refers to the increasing interdependence of world society in the global age. But we must be careful about how the idea of increasing interdependence is spelled out.

The media of communication plays a more important role in creating new forms of interdependence than does market integration. The world has become inter-connected electronically in ways that are far more radical and far-reaching than was true ever before.

Increasing economic interdependence would not be possible without these developments. Twenty four hour money markets, for instance, could not have existed previously. Or consider credit cards, which now have twelve billion separate transactions every day, and can be used in the large majority of countries around the world.

Secondly, globalisation is affecting the developed countries just as profoundly as any others in the world. The fact that news is now provided on a continuous basis, and concerns a whole range of electronic as well as the more traditional print media, has deeply affected politics and government.

Thirdly, every time I switch on the TV and see pictures from the other side of the world, I not only encounter, but actively contribute to globalisation. The same is true when I get some cash from a hole in the wall machine. Globalisation is not a force of nature. It is made by human beings and their endeavours.

Fourthly, globalisation is not just a synonym for the global dominance of the US or of the West more generally. By definition, it is a two-way set of processes, not just a system of imbalanced power. The rapid economic rise of India, China and other Asian countries to world prominence has disposed of the idea that globalisation benefits the West at the expense of the rest. Jobs that workers had thought safe from competition from abroad until now are at risk.

According to American economist Gene Grossman and his colleagues at Princeton University, any service job can in principle be outsourced if it displays the following four characteristics: it involves the heavy use of IT; its output is IT transmittable; it comprises tasks that can be codified; and it needs little face-to-face interaction.

Fifthly, globalisation has been advanced not only by economic factors and by communications technologies, but by political developments too. The most momentous was the ending of the bi-polar world. From that point onwards, we all lived more in one world than before.

However, today, there are new insecurities and anxieties. We now worry less about strong states, and more about weak ones, and the impact they have upon ethnic breakdown, terrorism, crime and drug-running. Yet anxiety and uncertainty are the order of the day. Thus, the social problem of our times is how to reconcile different beliefs and practices within a society that remains unified and inclusive.

And that brings us to the issue of the future of the nation-state in the global age. National identity, the feeling of belonging to a national community is still a very powerful thing in our lives. The worst thing that can happen to someone is to be without a passport.

We have to distinguish between the nation state, the nation and nationalism. The nation state is above all a political formation, a political system which rules over a given territory defined by its borders, and which has control of an apparatus of law of military power. The nation is the symbolic community associated — but not inevitably associated — with the nation state.

The nation is what the famous theorist of nationalism, Benedict Anderson, calls the imagined community — the symbolic community to which you belong when you are a citizen of a nation state. At least in principle, it gives you a feeling of identity and it establishes continuity from past to present.

One must separate each of these from nationalism. Nationalism is a psychological phenomenon, a feeling of affiliation to the nation. It is a kind of emotional fuel upon which the symbolic community of the nation runs. The reason one must distinguish these three is that you can have each of them without the others. You can, for example, have situations in which a nation exists without a state. There are many examples of that around the world, from Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country and Quebec through to Kurdistan and, of course, Kashmir.

The impact of globalisation should be thought of as a three-fold one. Some powers certainly drift away from the dominion of nation states in the global age. But if globalisation exerts a pull away process, it also has a push down effect too. It exerts pressures for downward devolution and a retrieval of regional institutions. However, if globalisation pulls away and pushes down, it also squeezes sideways – new regions can be created that may sometimes cross-cut the borders of established nations states. Think of Catalunia, in Northern Spain. It is an autonomous region of Spain, but is deeply integrated into the economy of Southern France, and more generally that of the European Union. The history of the EU is salutary.

The future lies with multi-culturalism. However, multiculturalism should not be seen as proposing that ethnic or cultural groups always have the last say over how they should behave. We could call such a point of view naïve multiculturalism.

Sophisticated multiculturalism recognises that there must be a body of law to which all subscribe; and that there are loyalties to the nation that transcend cultural belonging. These points have long been stressed in what is the most successful multicultural country, Canada.

In the global age, identity becomes a fundamental issue, both on an individual and societal level. For individuals, especially in Western countries and Westernised sectors of other societies, identity becomes much more open than it was, as a result of the proliferation of life-style choice. We have to make our own lives much more active than in the past. This situation is both an opportunity and a problem.

The stories about the evolution of Indian identity since 1947 are many. Sunil Khilnani, my old student, proposes that India could be seen as a third moment in the great experiment launched by the American and French revolutions — democracy. India is the most pointed challenge to those who say that authoritarian government is the condition of rapid economic development. India has always had a cosmopolitan elite — look at the manifold influences on the life of Gandhi.

India can define itself to some degree in terms of its differences from Pakistan. By and large, however, in the contemporary world, nations do not have enemies — the desire for territorial conquest for the most part has disappeared. Like individuals, nations have to form their identities in a more open and discursive fashion than once was the case. They have to discover who they are; and in a continuing rather than a static way.

There are two ways in which national identity can be recast in a progressive way — a way that looks to the future. We could think of national identity, and national ideals, mainly in civic terms. In the global age, peace and security depend upon the co-operation of nations, as well as the recognition that no nation, however powerful, can cope with the problems it faces alone.

In an age of interdependence, we are partners in prosperity but also in adversity, in respect of the threats the world faces. The US has recently explored the limits of unilateralism, with disastrous consequences. Ideals of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and freedom of the press may have originated in the West, but they are universal in their implications. National identity can no longer be based upon a simple concept of sovereignty, but has to be recast in terms of co-operation. With all its current difficulties, the European Union is the most important attempt in the world today to sustain real sovereignty through the common pooling of resources.

National identity cannot be reduced wholly to civic terms. Without a national myth, there is nothing for citizens to identify with. Abstract prescriptions, no matter how noble, do not supply a sense of community; and the sense of community, of being part of a community of fate, is inherent in the idea of the nation. And there’s the rub.

National myths can help develop a progressive agenda; but they can also fuel atavistic impulses that lead to mass bloodshed. The dangerous side of nationalism is the reason why so many liberals have looked to a situation in which we would forget about nations altogether and be simply citizens of the world. Perhaps in the long-term it may be possible. In the meantime, however, nation states remain the prime sources of collective identity, economic development and social policy.

Creating cosmopolitan nations — with an overall identity, but happy in their diversity — is the main way in which an effective international agenda can be forged and furthered.

The writer is an eminent British sociologist and Member, House of Lords. This article is excerpted from the D.T. Lakdawala Memorial Lecture delivered by him in New Delhi on October 27 under the aegis of the Institute of Social Sciences

Profile
She bowls at the speed of a cheetah
by Harihar Swarup

Little did Jhulan Goswami realise when she played cricket with tennis ball in a tiny town of West Bengal that one day she would become world’s fastest woman bowler and decorated with International Cricket Council’s Award. Her teammates used to be all boys and, initially, they thought it would be demeaning to play with a girl.

Cricket, after all, was man’s game. She was not allowed to bowl because she was considered too slow and her balls could easily be hit for a boundary. Jhulan took her rejection as a bowler to heart and vowed to improve her deliveries. Being tall in height gave her certain advantage; she is now nearly six-feet tall. She practiced, improving the speed and delivery till she could stump those who used to scorn her with the sheer force of her bowling.

Jhulan was obsessed with cricket right from her childhood days. She would collect stickers, newspaper and magazine clippings of the top cricketers of the day and paste them on the wall of her study. She would also hide sport magazines under her school books, giving her parents the impression that she was engrossed in reading text books.

Often, he was caught by her mother who used to scold her telling her not to waste time as examinations were nearing. Once her father, who worked with Indian Airlines, took her to Kolkata to watch Women’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand; she was thrilled. She took on the spot the decision to adopt cricket as her career. That was 1997 and since then, there is no looking back for her.

One Swapan Sadhu, who coached at a club at Vivekananda Park in South Kolkata, became her ‘Guru’. Every morning she would catch the 5-am train from her home in Chakdah, a suburb, 40 km from Kolkata. She would then take a bus to reach Vivekananda Park, just in time for coaching sessions. She also visited the famed MRF Pace Academy in Chennai and met there, Dennis Lille, Australian bowling legend. His tips were very useful to her during her Australian tour and 2005 World Cup. Jhulan’s first step towards international cricket came in a match between East Zone and Air India, where her movement and pace caught the eye of selectors. In 2000, she played for East Zone and took three for 13 in 10 overs against a strong side like Air India. So impressive was her performance that she was asked to join Air India
and rose to the position of customer supervisor. In the same year, she made debut for India . She says “since that day my motto is to improve further. I am trying to learn consistently and becoming a better bowler”.

Jhulan’s inbuilt talent and hard work sparkled when in 2002 she played against England and took five for 33 in the first innings of the Test. She can ball at the speed of 120 km an hour, the upper speed limit in some super highways across the world. The speed of Cheetah, known as the fastest animal of the world, when he charges, is almost the same. Accuracy is Jhulan’s greatest strength and she has economy rate of around two runs per over in one-day cricket and only three per over in Tests.

Decorated with ICC Women’s Player Award for 2007, 23-year-old Jhulan wants to improve further her accuracy and speed as she prepares for the Asia Cup due in January. She wants to have sessions again with Denis Lillie. Before the Asia Cup, many domestic tournaments including national championship are scheduled. Says Jhulan, “Naturally my immediate aim is to ensure berth in the Indian team through performance in the domestic tournaments before I set my next target to produce my best in the Asia Cup”.

OPED

Planning for Lok Sabha polls
Left Front strategy is a challenge to UPA and NDA
by K. Subrahmanyam

EVEN as the present Lok Sabha completes 70 per cent of its term, it is natural for political parties to start planning for the next election and how to improve their position in the new House. This will be so even when there are stable governments with single party majorities. If there are coalition governments then there will always be uncertainties when one or more parties will pull out of the government, to force an election on the basis of their calculations that they will be able to improve their prospects if early elections are held.

This could happen even when coalitions are based on ideological affinity. When the coalition is based purely on opportunistic alliance, the government will have to watch out all the time for such threats. When a coalition which is still not in a majority and has to depend on outside support, then it is even more susceptible to the threat of toppling as the term inexorably advances towards its close.

Given these considerations, let us look at how the three major players in the present Lok Sabha are attempting to improve their prospects in the next Lok Sabha. The Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA are the major adversaries. Though the Left Front has only 59 seats, it is able to play a balance of power role. In the last three years, it has extended support to the UPA in exchange for its veto on the UPA’s economic and social reform policies.

Though the Left Front is by and large a regional party with strength, mostly in West Bengal and Kerala, it has a national and international outlook and ambitions to influence national policies. Its success in exercising a veto on national policies in the last three years through the Common Minimum Programme agreement with the UPA may have understandably nurtured its ambitions to play even a larger role in the next Lok Sabha.

However, the polls predict that if the elections are held today the Left will lose seats. That would mean it would have lesser strength and lesser bargaining power in the next Lok Sabha. In such circumstances, it is logical for the Left to take steps to rectify this possibility. That can be done only if it is able to go for the next election with enhanced prestige and able to damage the prestige of the other two major rivals - the Congress and the BJP. It is easier for them to hurt the prestige of the UPA than of the BJP since they have a veto power over the UPA.

Therefore, they have decided to humiliate the UPA by demanding that it should go back on an international agreement negotiated and initialled. This is the 123 agreement on Indo-US nuclear relationship. If the UPA succumbs to this demand, the Left is in a position to reduce the UPA government to a lameduck government with declining prestige and withdraw support at the moment of its choice in the next few months and campaign separately on the non-performance of the UPA government, thereby improving its prospects and damaging the UPA’s image.

Simultaneously, it is also cultivating the UNPA. Its own enhanced prestige in humiliating the UPA, if it succeeds, may win over smaller parties both in the UPA and NDA folds before the next election. The dream of third front, it may be hoped, may come within reach. Without going into politics, one must admit this is a rational strategy to serve the interests of the Left Front.

This strategy of Left Front is a challenge to both the UPA and the NDA. Facing this they have to prepare their counter-strategies.

The UPA is under threat of being humiliated or toppled. The NDA is also affected. The poll forecasts are, an immediate election will affect it adversely and not be in its interest. It is, therefore, not in its interest to have the Left Front enhance its prestige and humiliate the UPA. In politics, both in domestic and international, autonomous functioning and advancing one’s interest involves often siding with one adversary to deal with a greater threat. The Communists used to call it in the thirties, the United Front strategy. They advocated that Communists should unite with other bourgeois parties to fight the Fascists.

In the last three years they supported the UPA to keep the NDA out of office. It will be logical if the NDA returns the compliment and chooses to frustrate the Left by not voting on the issue of Indo-US deal and not precipitating an early election, at the same time cutting the Left down to their size. If the Left breaks with the UPA and are not able to bring about an early election, their prestige and standing will be affected. That is in the interest of both the NDA and the UPA. The Indo-US deal was originated by the NDA government and its National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra, has said that with certain assurances on strategic arsenal and other issues by the government the deal should be allowed to go through in country’s interest.

For the UPA, if the poll forecasts are any indication early elections are in its interest. Humiliation at the hands of the Left is not in its interest. Not only early elections in its own interest will get postponed, the humiliation is bound to affect its election prospects and its standing vis-à-vis its partners.

Though many of them may press the UPA to subject itself to humiliation and postpone the elections more in their interest than in its, if it comes about that will not enhance its prestige in their estimation. The UPA of which the Congress is the core will go down in history as the first party which subjected the country to international humiliation if it goes back on 123 agreement. That would come in as very handy ammunition for the BJP and all other non-Left parties in any election campaign.

In any case, since the Left will distance itself a few months before the next election to be independent to campaign on its own, untainted by its relationship with the UPA, the time that will be gained by yielding to its demand will be only a few months of ignominy in office as a lameduck government. Will that be in the UPA’s interest?

Next few weeks will show how skilled our major political formations are in making risk calculations about their future and arriving at informed decisions.

Of Adarsh schools and knowledge centres
by Surjeet Singh

THE Union Government has proposed Rs 36,000 crore for upgrading higher education. In the ongoing case of reservation of 27 per cent seats for the Other Backward Classes, the Supreme Court put a significant question: If the government has enough funds, why is it not spending on elementary education, which is a constitutional obligation?

In this context, one should examine the rationale behind the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government’s decision to open Adarsh Schools in Punjab. This is important because eight Adarsh Schools opened in the districts during eighties had failed to achieve the objective. Surveys show that school education, especially at the elementary level, is in the doldrums. Needless to say, elementary education plays an important role in shaping the career of the students, especially those living in rural areas.

A recent UNESCO report presents a dismal picture of primary education. It says that hardly a student can read or write correctly his/her name. The pupils could not solve two digit sums correctly. They are supposed to learn three basic skills -- the ability to read, to write and to calculate. A teacher is supposed to initiate raw minds into these foundational skills.

In Punjab, considered a progressive state, the schools lack the basic facilities. Thousands of teaching posts continue to lie vacant for years. The decision-making process on education is concentrated at the level of Secretary through the Director. It includes recruitment, qualifications, appointments, transfers, promotions, teachers’ awards etc. But the secretariat staff hardly understand the planning and administration for the efficiency of the field workers. No one is accountable for lapses in the system. Indeed, no one recognises the deficiencies affecting the teaching in schools.

This fact is confirmed by a survey of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2007. It reveals that educationists including directors do not feel ashamed that half the number of pupils never reach Class VIII. The reason: one-third teachers never attend school. Those who attend are least interested in teaching. The situation in Punjab is no less alarming, particularly in border areas.

The National University of Educational Planning and Administration has proposed an Education Development Index (EDI). It has broadly four parameters: access, the infrastructure, teacher related indicators and outcomes. For example, it includes teacher-student ratio, student-ratio, school class ratio, drop-out ratio etc. Do the secretariat/directorate apply these criteria while planning the budget of education?

As regards the EDI, while Chandigarh UT occupies fifth rank, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab lag behind with seventh and fourteenth ranks respectively. Successive governments in Punjab have done little for the development of rural schools. They don’t provide even proper facilities in government schools.

Opening of Adarsh schools in the Malwa region may be a populist measure, but the government should not lose sight of the difficulties in the ystem. It should evolve remedies for helping the common man who is at the government’s mercy. Unemployed youth are a stigma on the government.

It is a moot point whether Adarsh schools will help develop the rural economy or poor village pupils. As entrepreneurs of industry will set up these schools, they require land to build buildings. The villagers will have to surrender their fertile land for education.

It mains to be seen how will the students cope with the needs of Adarsh schools? The teachers’ salaries will have to be decided and there is need for huge expenditure on the infrastructure and other facilities. The industrialists will not provide adequate facilities free of cost to the students or staff including teachers. It requires planning and wisdom to execute the project. Will philanthropists chip in? What will be the government’s role to improve the quality of education?

Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda proposes a vastly different model than the existing system, including its variations of model schools. He says that the schools, teachers, textbooks etc are irrelevant in modern times of new technology to give knowledge to the rural people and to develop the rural economy efficiently. If knowledge centres are set up throughout India, Adarsh schools may have little value for village students.

The writer is a former Additional Director of Public Instruction, Punjab

On Record
New device will help you reach a new place,
says Rohan
by Akhila Singh

Rohan with his Navigator

AFTER completing his first year of graduation at Stanford University, Rohan Verma conceptualised www.mapmyindia.com to help people in India benefit from the power of maps and location based services. At 22, he heads the mapmyIndia division of CE Info Systems. A dream visualised by his parents 14 years back, Rohan put it to use.

"With a promise that you would never get lost in the country,” Rohan speaks to The Sunday Tribune about the fascinating web site and their flashy new gadget called Navigator. So, this time when you plan to visit an unfamiliar location, just click the computer and let mapmyindia be your guide.

Excerpts:

Q: What made you return to India and work on the maps and the web site?

A: My family has been working on the project. We had seen that Indians generally do not refer to maps. I wanted them to realise the importance of maps and never get lost. It has taken us 14-15 years to collect maps from across the country and put them together. We have detailed maps of all the major cities in India including Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.

Q: How did your services change the lives of people?

A: I don’t want people to roll down their windows every time they are lost and approach some stranger on the street. With our services, one can just download the detailed map of the locality, take a printout from mapmyindia and move on. The navigator, on the other hand, will guide you to the destination, telling you exactly which turn to take. If one is caught in a situation, the navigator will tell how far the nearest police station is. These are very useful services because one person can never be well acquainted with all the places. The comfort factor is there if you know where you are.

Q: In India Internet is not accessible to everyone. Isn’t it a limitation?

A: Our first priority is to reach out to the people who are connected to Internet. Many people are even ignorant about these services. Our new device Navigator is connected with the satellites. It would get connected the moment you switch it on wherever you may be. Also, we are planning to provide some services on the mobile phones. This would be a big leap.

Q: How challenging was the task of putting the web site together?

A: The biggest challenge was to get the detailed map from all the cities in the country. We have a team of 200 surveyors in the states. It took us over a decade to put together the data received. We did it with lot of passion. Nevertheless, it is essential to have an organisation backing you up. One cannot achieve all this individually. We still have a major task of updating the site. We take suggestions from our team and the users. Users give us substantial feedback in terms of changes in locations. Otherwise, our team keeps a track on every possible development.

Q: How precise is the information available?

A: The web site can take you to sub-localities, it wouldn’t tell you about the particular house but it will take you to where it is located. The Navigator, however, will guide you through it all. In case you take a wrong turn, it will redirect itself and tell you the next best turn. Moreover, there is constant updating so if some street is not functional anymore, it would show you the other route to the destination.

Q: How relevant is your new product, the Navigator?

A: Navigator would revolutionise the way you travel. This product works with the global positioning system and assist you while you are travelling. The gadget gives you voice instructions at every point. One can also watch movies, listen to music and play games on the gadget. It can tell you the nearest point of interest like hotel, restaurant, shopping complex, ATM, airport etc. Now you can just sit in your car and follow the instructions given, turn by turn. The product can be brought straight from the site as of now.

Q: What kind of people can use this device?

A: It can make life convenient for almost everyone who is on a move at any point. It would be particularly interesting for travellers, businessmen and gadget freaks. Everyone feels secure when they know where they are, it’s the comfort factor that we are trying to generate in our users. Parents are buying it for their daughters. We are also trying to get in touch with the security service providers. This would turn out to be very useful for them.