Globalization and Change : Perspectives from Punjab (Essays in Honour of Prof S.S. Gill)

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. I: Globalization: Contemporary concerns. 2. World agriculture under strain: Are developing countries Heading towards Technological orphanage?/G.K. Chadha. 3. Capital versus Labour: globalization, marginalized and crisis of governance/Ronki Ram. 4. Labour in a globalized world: issue of employment, labour standards and social protection/T.S. Papola. 5. Global Food crisis as a part of the crisis of global capitalism/Pritam Singh. II: Urban and industrial sector issues. 6. Globalization, development and India: issues and policies/R.S. Bawa and Manjit Singh. 7. Urban classes in India: some Methodological issues/Paramjit S. Judge. 8. Urban Development perspective and strategy/H.S. Gill. 9. Emerging pattern of Industrial employment in the organized manufacturing sector in India/Lakhwinder Singh and Baldev Singh Shergill. 10. Social audit of privatization in India/B.S. Ghuman. 11. ICT and Economic Growth in India/Inderjeet Singh and Dinkey Dhiman. III: Agriculture: Issues and Concerns. 12. The Rural Urban Divide in Punjab: It is Widening Again/Karam sigh. 13. Planning for Sustainable management of water: Resources in Indian Agricultural Sector/A.S. Bhullar, H.S. Dhaliwal and M.S. Toor. 14. The Status of agricultural resources in Punjab: Need for alternatives/Sukhpal Singh. 15. Linking small primary producers with markets through Fresh food retail chains in India: How inclusive and how effective?/Sukhpal Singh and Naresh Singla. 16. Rationalizing the Diversion of Cultivated Land to Non-Agricultural Use: Theoretical and empirical analysis/H.S. Shsergill. 17. The Punjab Village Economy: Looking within and beyond Agriculture/M.R. Khurana. 18. Agricultural indebtedness: Falling Back on Cooperative Banks?/Anita Gill. IV: Socio-Political Issues and Action. 19. Development, Distortions and Social Action/Autar S. Dhesi. 20. Diasporas and Development: Can Sikh Diaspora Finance and Philanthropy contribute to Human Development in Punjab?/Shinder S. Thandi. 21. Adieu to Punjab? : Explaining Contemporary Punjabi Migration to Overseas Countries/Darshan S. Tatla. 22. Denotified Tribes of Punjab: Economic Ethnography and political economic explanation/Birinder Pal Singh. 23. Human Rights and Terrorist Violence in Punjab/Jagrup S. Sekhon. 24. Terrorism, State Terrorism and Human rights violations in Punjab: Retrospection of the Turbulent Period (1980-1993)/Umrao Singh. 25. Fragile Social Welfare Effort by State in Punjab: A political Economy Perspective/Virender Jain. 26. Regional Pattern of Industrial Relations in Punjab, India/Kesar Singh Bhangoo.

“Globalization is a repulsive word of ambiguous meaning coined in the 1960s that came into ever-greater fashion in the 1990s. For most of its proponents, it is an irresistible and desirable force sweeping away frontiers, liberating individuals and enriching all its touches, whereas for a large number of its opponents, it is no less an irresistible force, but totally undesirable. However, globalization is today seen as a new grand narrative of the social sciences. It is as an inevitable force, transforming all aspects of contemporary society, politics and economy.

The present volume looks at some important issues concerning the impact of globalization in the context of an Indian state of Punjab. The major questions addressed relate to labour, agriculture, rural-urban inequalities, natural resources, housing and movement of international labour and its role in local economy. The issues of governance and the role of the state are also analyzed. Some papers have tried to touch upon the sensitive issue of terrorism as it did affect the social fabric of the state and its subsequent economic progress. The collection of papers in this volume, thus, captures diversity of issues that reflect on the globalization and its consequences, which are both positive and negative. Integration of regional economies like Punjab into globalizing national economies is a hard task and policy prescriptions have to be judicious. It is hoped that issues raised in the volume would generate a debate and attract attention to the concerns put to the fore.”