India as a Model for Global Development

India is an emerging market economy, and has been more successful than most other emerging economies. Key to this success are India’s ancient legacy of consensus democracy, non-violence, multi-culturality, tolerance, secularism, and the practical simplicity of economic life inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Also, vital to India’s present economy is the history of the country since the struggle for Independence began in 1857. India has followed a strikingly distinct route of development from other emerging economies such as South Korea, China, Malaysia, Brazil, and Mexico. While these countries concentrated on manufacturing and exports, India grounded its economy on an integrative domestic system of life. This model is marked by interesting and gradual, but constant, growth with an emphasis on services.

Reforms in land-agricultural system, political governance, and financial management have led to a landmark stage of economic progress, with India’s GDP rate higher than many emerging market economies. This volume explores the reasons why India has fared better than other emerging market economies, and whether other countries can take inspiration from this model and rebuild their own countries based on their national resources, cultural heritage, and the capacity to interact globally.

The book is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘India of my Dreams’. It would be entirely unrealistic to claim that India’s development model is all positive or meets the standards of India of Gandhi’s dreams. Gandhi was a great proponent of the self-sufficiency of villages and of the bourgeoning of cottage industries. However, in present day India, debt-ridden farmers’ suicide rates are drastic and the crafts are dying. In finding answers to why this is so, the volume looks at the failures in the development of cottage industries, whether the efforts of NGOs in this regard are sufficient, and whether Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach would complement Gandhi’s ‘self-sufficiency of villages’ perspective in order to preserve crafts and indigenous production systems while continuing with industrialization and agrarian reforms.