On Democracy and Progress
Contents: Preface. 1. India: approaching the third synthesis. 2. Pure Manu. 3. Hindutva Tattva or the Theory of Hindutva? 4. Modernity, Islam and 'A Triple Liberation'. 5. Freedom, justice, dignity: An Arabian quest. 6. Towards a knowledge society in Arabia and in India. 7. Democracy and reform: voices in the Middle East. 8. Family and Islam. 9. Political Islam: economic Islam. 10. Three concepts of human development. 11. Iraq's constitution: future imperfect. 12. Science, democracy, secularism. 13. Indonesia and a 'Big Bang'. 14. Let two flowers bloom in Kashmir. 15. Matter and mind: a tale of two Hegemons. 16. On the export and import of democracy. 17. Looking down the oil well. 18. 'Next French Revolution': Dignity? 19. The underclass: storms from the Nether-Lands. 20. Equality, freedom: false promises. 21. The crisis of civilization: democracy of democracy. 22. The next stage of capitalism: end of secularism. 23. Einstein: democratic socialism. 24. In search of rational belief: two routes. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
"'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights' -- this is a modern concept of man. Democracy claims its legitimacy upholding this view. Historically, the bourgeoisie had struggled against feudalism for democracy. But capitalism uses man as a mere source of labour-power. That makes democracy incoherent. Some of the raging battles of the twenty-first century are being fought with one side under the banner of dignity, the other invoking the name of rights.
Amply, enumerated, the elements of right are derived from presumed notions of dignity. But dignity has acquired no putative definition, only multiple, often conflicting, translations. With a declining population at home, the centre of world capitalism imports labour from the periphery. The immigrants' sense of dignity is violated by the exercise of capitalists' rights. Capitalism thus faces a new sort of crisis in the century of democracy.
Human beings have many differences among themselves in external and internal features like inherited fortune, living conditions and physical abilities. But their genetic disparity in terms of heredity codes is miniscule, only one-tenth of one percent. Men were born equal, but they are unequal everywhere, having been deprived of social resources. Removal of these deprivations, which occur due to institutions, can make human beings equal again. That would be the 'democracy of democracy', a pathway to real progress. This constitutes the central concern of this book." (jacket)
