Book Review: Perspectives on Neoliberalism, Labour and Globalization in India, K. R. Shyam Sundar Palgrave Macmillan and Springer. 2019. ISBN 978‐981‐13‐6971‐1 (Hbk) £119.99 ISBN (eBook) £95.90

• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Vidu Badigannavar
• Date: 01 March 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12358

BOOK REVIEW

Book Review: Perspectives on Neoliberalism,

Labour and Globalization in India

By K. R. Shyam Sundar

Palgrave Macmillan and Springer. 2019. ISBN 978-981-13-6971-1 (Hbk) £119.99 ISBN (eBook) £95.90

It is often argued that with economic liberalisation, India has been witnessing a major change

in its labour regulatory framework since 1991 but particularly so since 2014 when the right

wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) won the parliamentary election and subsequently got

re-elected with an increased majority in 2019 general elections. This book in the honour of

eminent Indian economist late Prof Lalit Deshpande edited by Prof. Shyam Sundar extends this

theme of ‘neoliberalism’of economic reforms policies. The book which is a collection of

13 papers predominantly takes a Marxist institutional approach to argue that ‘neoliberal’

economic reforms by successive Indian governments over the past three decades have had a

detrimental impact on workers and in particular the most vulnerable groups of workers in the

large informal sector characterised by precarious forms of employment. The variety of topics

covered in this volume is diverse, and at times, it is difficult for the reader to link the themes

and sub-themes to identify a coherent argument that runs through the volume.

In his introduction, Shyam Sundar identifies the complexities of Indian labour markets with

respect to formal versus informal employment, social institutions such as caste and religion and

cultural norms around gender that must be considered when studying Indian industrial

relations (IR). In chapter 2, Selwyn discusses the role of multilateral institutions such as the

World Bank and IMF in shaping national IR systems and promotes ILO as an advocate of

labour centric development model. In chapters 3 and 4, Roy and Janardhan offer a largely

binary classification of old IR versus the new IR and suggest ways in which organised labour

can form global alliances to counter the forces of global capital. In Chapter 5, Jha offers a

critique of how state policies including those designed to help the precariat benefit the elite in

the society. In chapter 6, Harris suggests that protest movements and civil society organisations

can help secure Scandinavian type social democratic policies in India. The precise basis of these

assertions is somewhat unclear. Chapter 7 by Mascarenhas et al. offers an insight on Catholic

Church and the biblical views on labour rights which suggests that trade unions are ‘prophets

of workers' rights’but urges them to refrain from political influences. It is unclear as to how

trade unions can be apolitical organisations when the ‘neoliberal’economic policies of the state

are inherently political in nature and unions often mount intensive political campaigns against

these neoliberal policies. In the Indian context where almost all national union federations are

affiliated to political parties, for them to maintain political neutrality seems implausible.

DOI: 10.1111/irj.12358

© 2022 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

184 Ind. Relat. 2022;53:184–185.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/irj