T here’s a tremendous amount of discussion, in the press and
everyw here, about neoliberalism and structural adjustment. T hat’s
the main topic everybody w ants to talk about.
T hey discuss it as if it’s something new, but it’s pretty much
w hat India has been subjected to for three hundred years. W hen
that’s pointed out to them, they tend to recognize it, because they
know their ow n history. T hat know ledge contributes to popular
resistance to neoliberalism, w hich is w hy India hasn’t accepted the
harshest forms of it.
How far neoliberalism w ill get in India is an open question. For
example, the government is trying to “liberalize” the media—w hich
means, basically, sell them off to the likes of R upert Murdoch. T he
media in India are mostly ow ned by the rich (as they are virtually
everyw here), but they’re resisting the attempt to turn them into
subsidiaries of a half dozen international megacorporations.
Although they’re pretty right-w ing, they’d rather run their ow n
system of control internally than be taken over by outsiders.
T hey’ve managed to maintain some sort of cultural autonomy...at
least so far. T here’s some diversity in the Indian media—more than
here—and that’s very significant. It’s much better to have your ow n
right-w ing media than Murdoch’s.
As mentioned earlier, the same isn’t true of India’s small
advertising industry—it’s been mostly bought up by big, mostly
American (maybe all American) multinationals. W hat they push—of
course—is foreign products. T hat undermines domestic production
and is harmful to the Indian economy, but many privileged people
like it. Somebody alw ays benefits from these programs.
Intellectual property rights are also a big issue. T he new
international patent rules are very strict and may w ell destroy the
Indian pharmaceutical industry, w hich has kept drugs quite cheap.
T he Indian companies are likely to become subsidiaries of foreign
firms, and prices w ill go up. (T he Indian parliament actually voted
the proposed patent rules dow n, but the government is apparently
going to try to institute them anyw ay.)
T here used to be only process patents, w hich permit people to
figure out smarter w ays to make products. T he World T rade
Organization has introduced product patents; they allow companies
to patent not only a process, but also the product that’s the result of
the process. Product patents discourage innovation, are very
ann
(Ann)
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