The Age of Aspiration
Power, Wealth, and Conflict in Globalizing India
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- $37.99
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- $37.99
Publisher Description
Nearly four decades ago, Dilip Hiro's Inside India Today, banned by Indira Gandhi's government, was acclaimed by The Guardian as simply “the best book on India.” Now Hiro returns to his native country to chronicle the impact of the dramatic economic liberalization that began in 1991, which ushered India into the era of globalization.
Hiro describes how India has been reengineered not only in its economy but also in its politics and cultural mores. Places such as Gurgaon and Noida on the outskirts of Delhi have been transformed from nondescript towns into forests of expensive high-rise residential and commercial properties. Businessmen in Bollywood movies, once portrayed as villains, are now often the heroes. The marginal, right-wing Hindu militants of the past now rule the nominally secular nation, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their avatar, one whose electoral victory was funded by big business.
Hiro provides a gripping account of the role played by Indians who have settled in the United States and Britain since 1991 in boosting India's GDP. But he also highlights the negatives: the exponential growth in sleaze in the public and private sectors, the impoverishment of farmers, and the rise in urban slums. A masterful panorama, The Age of Aspiration covers the whole social spectrum of Indians at home and abroad.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hiro (The Longest August) develops a dense, intriguing analysis of India's complex sociopolitical climate since 1991, when the country launched extensive neoliberal reforms. The book reveals the gap between astonishing technological developments and the worsening status of the poor. While appreciative of the information technology education that gives Indian students a competitive edge throughout the world, Hiro points out that "the benefits of the boom have gone to those at the top and the middle, leaving the bottom stagnating." In chronicling the contest between the once-dominant Indian National Congress and the upstart Bharatiya Janata Party, Hiro gives specific instances of corruption on both sides. As he shows, the divide between rich and poor is also evident in agriculture: rich landowners are exempt from most taxes, while tenant farmers suffer from dwindling water resources and poor soil. The chapter on West Bengal's Maoist Naxalite guerillas deftly shows how violent radical movements can win support from locals who feel abandoned by the government. The author's anger at ruling-class greed is evident throughout, but he's willing to acknowledge positive changes: intermittent electricity in villages, more access to information, some improvements in health care. Still, he makes clear these are but "short-term palliatives." In an epilogue on the rise of xenophobia and religious bigotry during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, Hiro expresses little hope for change.
