Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation (LPG) has
become the dominant model of growth and development around
the world since the mid-1990s, affecting all walks of life,
in particular, the economy of nation states. The term `globalisation'
refers to the multiplicity of linkages and growing interconnectedness
between States and societies leading to the integration
of interstate and non-state activities in several spheres
across the globe. Two decades of economic reforms have thrown
up mixed results and varied points of view. Even though
LPG brought benefits to a few, majority of the people were
not covered, especially in a developing country like India,
which in turn prompted policy makers and scholars to think
aloud and look for better alternatives. The present review
article analyses selected recent literature on globalisation
and offers an assessment of the alternative approaches they
offer.
After the end of the cold war and the consequent acceleration
of the process of globalisation, nation states were prompted
to re-strategise their economic policies. This article examines
the relationship between national economies and the processes
of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG)
with focus on India. While first part of this article analyses
how the phenomenon of globalisation has been conceptualised,
the second part discusses the dimensions of LPG pertaining
to India as presented in the research studies of a few prominent
scholars. In doing so, the third part examines various viewpoints
on alternatives to LPG.
Since contemporary global polity and economy are heavily
influenced by globalisation, it is imperative to understand
how the phenomenon of globalisation itself has been conceptualised.
The rapid spread of innovative Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) has radically transformed the world in
the last two decades of 20th century and this has to be
viewed in the context of the apparent triumph of capitalism
over other models of development in vogue, such as communism
(i.e., the centrally planned command economy). Capitalism
as a world system rests on private/corporate ownership of
the means of production. Thanks to its resilience as well
as the capacity to reproduce itself through accumulation
of capital, capitalism has emerged as the dominant mode
of development after the Cold War. The disintegration of
the Socialist Bloc spearheaded by Soviet Union in 1991 augmented
this process. Even China, a leading socialist state, has
embraced a variant of capitalism (Market Socialism). In
fact, most of the Third World states shed their socialist
leanings by the end of 1980s. All these developments have
accelerated the spread of capitalist globalisation.
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