Economic Colonialism - India

Nov 1995
Cheap labour and the end of archaic restrictions have spawned a new entrepreneurial era.

In Bombay's factories, thanks to foreign investment, they are finally carting away the Dickensian machinery of the British Empire. But Hindu fundamentalists denounce this as 'economic colonialism' and are as keen to expel the multinationals from India as they are to quash the minority Muslims. At a Hindu festival, extremists excite racial and religious tensions as crowds of young Hindus wheel a freshly painted effigy of Ganesh, the traditional vanquisher of foreign foes, into the Arabian sea. In the quiet village of Veldur where buffaloes loll in the waves, fishermen moan about a new site for ENRON, an American multinational. Dependent on mangoes, fish and cashew nuts, villagers dread the devastation associated with industrial development. This local discontent is one more political skirmish in the battle for India's commercial future. Despite widespread social tension, India's leaders have decided that foreign investment is indispensable. As India mobilises to catch up with the West, Veldur will become the first casualty of many.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Economic
• Colonialism
• Mumbai
• Cheap
• labour
• Muslim
• Hindu
• Industrial
• Action
• Protest
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• documentary
• current affairs
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• journeyman pictures

[me2super]

I notice that a majority of your videos on India are demeaning only showing the extreme negative aspects of India's problems, the largest English-speaking democracy on the planet. On the other hand, you project the "Boom in China" when you are aware of the Chinese expansionist agenda, the genocide of over 300,000 in Darfur, over 1.2 million Tibetans, countless Burmese, and staggering human rights issues within China such as Falun Gong, etc. All I am asking is to be fair, not biased journalism.

[kannappilly]

this is made by western media with western agenda in mind

[thesinzter]

biased journalism, thats all i can say

[DocUnsane]

LOL, "enron will be back"

hahaha, no they won't (corporate fraud killed them)

[DocUnsane]

@gigagroove

Those people that deliver food are called "dabbawala" (named after the containers). And they are the ENVY of the buisness world.

They have a collective buiness model where all the delivery guys have a stake in the company. Also, a every efficient delivery process (utilizing a code system) delivers a near 100% efficiency 365 days a year, which is Totally Unheard of anywhere else.

[raatosyaal]

The genius of capitalism is that it gets the exploitative benefits of slavery while externalizing the costs of keeping labor to the workers themselves. The caste system, like race or nationalism, is an ideological framework for reproducing or perpetuating a certain division of labor. It can involve slavery, and like race is being used for current "wage slavery," but unlike the Ancient Mediterranean it was not based on it; it sustained a relatively autonomous agriculture & a guild-like industry.

[raatosyaal]

Outsiders can provide fresh insights. Eg, good critiques of US imperialism originate outside the US. Because US corporations spearhead the spread of finance capital's rule, US perspectives can be instructive. However, this apology for "Enrons" is wrong. Enron's fraudulent use of new projects as security for old debt & transformation of private liabilities into public debt is symptomatic of current US corporate culture. And Germany colonized Turkey a century ago by financing export of machines.

[cluelessnobody]

@gigagroove No they are not...There is no kind of slavery as no one is confined to performing a particular job...I'd like to know your definition of slavery, and how do you apply that to the Indian caste system