It’s a man’s world!

If the sex selective abortions were to continue, it will indeed be a man’s world in the next two decades. With 121 boys for 100 girls in China and corresponding 112 in India, the number of missing females from the region’s population would soon be a staggering 200 million. It will be an evolutionary chaos where millions of men would be unable to find local wives.

In many parts of the country bride search has indeed become frenetic, providing short-term relief from social ills like dowry. But ‘missing girls’ syndrome is more than temporary, stretching across areas like evolution, gender relations and geopolitics. ‘The implications of ‘surplus males’ have yet to fully fathomed,’ argues writer Maria Hvistendahl.

Unnatural Selection is a work of investigative writing; revealing and engaging. The population hysteria through the 1960s and 70’s had led agencies like the World Bank, the Rockefeller and the Ford Foundation to funnel grants into population control efforts – no less than a conspiracy that sex determination was promoted as an effective method of population control in the process.

It is however another matter that since then sex determination has popped up as a multibillion-dollar industry. In market-driven globalization gender selection has become a commodity for purchase - if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Through emerging techniques like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or PGD, parents can literally design ‘babies’ with choicest features.

Maria Hvistendahl raises questions on this disturbing trend of prioritizing the needs of one generation over other. A woman should have the right to terminate a pregnancy, she contends, but should not have the right to shape the individual represented by that pregnancy to her own whims. Surplus males can trigger a period of violence and instability.

Unnatural Selection is a must read book, a classical work on non-fiction story telling format on a subject that is not only compelling but should be morally binding as well....Link

Unnatural Selection
by Maria Hvistendahl
Public Affairs, USA
314 pages, US$ 27

Retail Therapy

Current debate on foreign direct investment in ‘big retail’ is driven by a conviction that large chain retailers boost employment and expand the economy. In growing economies like India, big retail is further tagged to lowering of inflation alongside remunerative prices for farmers by elimination of middlemen. It is one political stone that kills many dissenting birds.

The reality is far in contrast to the tunnel view that politicians and planners hold dear. Multi-brand retailers like Wal-Mart squeeze profit out of local communities and load them with numerous hidden societal costs. It is a colonization of the kind that impinges on local self-reliance and dispersed ownership. In broader sense, big retail undermines democratic self-governance.

Big-Box Swindle is by far the most authentic indictment of big retail. In her incisive analysis, Stacy Mitchell has laid bare hidden dimensions of mega-retail proliferation in the United States. Big-box retailers squeeze the middle-class, fuel suburban sprawl, undercut local businesses and strip citizens of an enriched community life.

Using real-life examples from 49 states, Mitchell contends that mega-retailers are fueling many of America’s most pressing social, environmental and economic problems. Studies reveal that communities, where a larger share of the economy is in the hands of locally owned businesses, have lower rates of crime, poverty and infant mortality.

While taking a well-researched dig at big retail, Mitchell also provides inspiring lessons from places that are turning the tide. ‘Buy Local’ and ‘Break the Chain Habit’ campaigns are encouraging local businesses in several states that, taken together, provide a detailed road map to a brighter, prosperous and sustainable future. Across US, two-hundred big retail projects have been halted by such groups since 2000.

Prodigiously researched and lucidly written, Big Box Swindle is a must read for those who draft public policy. Any policy decision that doesn’t take into account the arguments by Stacy Mitchell is likely to be unconvincing and inconclusive....Link

Big Box Swindle
by Stacy Mitchell
Beacon Press, Boston
318 pages, $15

Mimicry generation

Dead Ringers is somewhat disturbing as it chronicles the life of workforce in the outsourcing industry. This workforce represents globalization enthusiasts who have compromised their names, accents, habit and lifestyle because mimicry is their job requirement. That they are being trained to tell ‘lie’ to their (un)suspecting western clients neither concerns them nor their orthodox parents. What counts is the relatively high wages that they muster by mimicking.

The flipside to the otherwise great story of economic upturn is that global corporations view the outsourcing industry as a low-cost, often low-skill sector. Add poor labour conditions, graveyard shifts and accent neutralization to it and what you seem to get is a workplace that not only mentally stresses its inhabitants but helps them lose their sex drive as well. Behind the high rise world of luminous signage there is dark and dingy world of silent sufferers.

Shehzad Nadeem argues that these high wage earners of the new and emerging India are also subject to what Karl Marx called the ‘dull compulsion of economic relations’. They have bargained for high wages by mortgaging themselves, their freedom being caged to strict discipline and deft surveillance. That the educated middle-class youth are being colonized into hybrid lives is the price the society would need to pay in the long run. No one seems to care!

The promise of outsourcing-led development has seemingly been wildly oversold. Nadeem has drawn a wide canvas wherein the socio-cultural impact of outsourcing has been measured against many downsides of the globalised workforce. Through lively ethnographic detail and subtle analysis of interviews with workers, managers, and employers, Dead Ringers offers evidence-based picture on several hidden but disturbing facets of outsourcing industry.

Dead Ringers is riveting and engaging, peeling layers after layers of what goes on within the glitzy world of outsourcing. Most notable fact being that this industry is dependent upon the temporary condition of the global labour market. Should the demand collapse, the situation of these workers may no longer be as enviable. At the end, outsourcing industry has stressed its workforce by exposing them to ‘political economy of insecurity’....Link

Dead Ringers
by Shahzad Nadeem
Princeton University Press, Princeton
273 pages, US$ 35

Concerns about effects

For anyone struggling to comprehend what climate change might mean to life-support systems and policy arena in the sub-continent, Binayak Ray has a comprehensive and authoritative take on it. Not discounting the ideological underpinning of climate sceptics, mounting scientific evidence has guided the author to position ‘effects’ ahead of the possible ‘causes’. That climate change may add to existing mutual suspicion in enhancing regional vulnerability is stark and clear. The region is on a tipping point.

Water is the centrepiece around which Ray builds his political hypothesis of mistrust and suspicion, reminiscent of the cold war era. Will climate change not aggravate internal squabbles and external hostilities against India? Water poverty, manifest within and across the borders, is the emotional trigger that can fuel a million mutinies. At a 2001 Karachi seminar, an emotionally charged delegate had commented that ‘any conflict over water would see Pakistan using its nuclear weapons’.

Such a scenario may be far-fetched but evidence suggests that regional implications of climate change may have serious consequences. The intertwining of water crises with religious diversity, ethnic fragmentation and politically sensitivity makes climate change too hot an issue to handle in isolation. Without resolving trans-boundary issues around water sharing, the impact of climate change in the region would not be easy to fathom. Cumulative impact of climate change on glacial meltdown, river flow regimes and groundwater overdraft could be catastrophic.

The implications of climate crises on social and regional security in the sub-continent are seemingly profound. No other region might be as vulnerable. Climate Change is aptly timed and well researched, nuanced with policy challenges that lie ahead. Ray has grasped the subject to its last digit, producing an important review that uses scientific evidence to build political argument. This book should not only be an essential reading for policy makers but must engage all those concerned with the peaceful co-existences of countries in the region....Link


Climate Change
by Binayak Ray
Lexington Books, Maryland
234 pages, $45

The business of unending demand

A television producer recently accosted me with an uncomfortable question: Isn’t bottled water a reliable source in water-stressed situations? Loaded as the query was, the answer could well be both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It is a non-issue for those who can afford to pay for it but for 884 million Indians who lack access to safe water supplies a ‘no’ could only be at the cost of their lives.

It makes a perfect case for a business strategy on water, where demand is pledged much before supplies get ensured. Since water as a resource is available to everyone but owned by none, it does create an economic disincentive for stewardship on one hand by simultaneously opening a business incentive for controlling it on the other.

Corporate control on water is a reality that has percolated in our lives; bottled water being one of its many variants. Curiously, however, corporate strategies on water are often flawed on account of over-exploitation of a natural resource that for all practical purposes is in public domain. The much publicized Coca Cola case has set up tension between the public and private sectors.

William Sarni has produced a virtual who’s who on corporate water, enumerating the potential risks by some of the leading water corporations across the world. Corporate Water Strategies is a call to action for every company to move toward water stewardship and constructively engage all stakeholders in crafting 21st century solutions to sustainably managing water.

Citing the example of Singapore, that has been officially classified as ‘water stressed’, Sarni emphasizes how diversified water sources, water reuse, water pricing and water efficiency have been integrated to develop an enlightened water stewardship for the next century. The driving principle for water stewardship rests on it being considered a ‘local’ resource, whose risks and opportunities must be assessed by corporations within the prevailing conditions. Only then can corporate water strategies be effective in managing our limited resource. In the conflicting world of corporate water control, the book is reassuring of a better future.....Link

Corporate Water Strategies
by William Sarni
Earthscan, London
262 pages, $40

No single Gandhi

Boat ride in the Sundarbans is an exhilarating experience, large canvas on which innumerable canals packed with nature’s amazing creation pour their riches into the sea. The sea returns the favors through backwaters that carry a cache of invaluable gifts for those who depend on it. ‘You have Gandhi to return the favors in time of moral crises, we have none,’ a young Bangadeshi had caught me unaware with his reflective query.

My spontaneous response then echoes in Understanding Gandhi now. Gandhi constitutes the moral capital of humanity, and persons as well as societies all over the world (must) draw strength from his ideas and work especially during crises. Gandhi belonged to an era and not to any nation, he is part of humanity’s collective history and would continue to be so. Close associate

J B Kripalani had wondered if one lifetime was enough to understand Gandhi.
Understanding Gandhi through the minds of those who spent valuable time with the apostle of peace and non-violence only reflects that there is ‘no single Gandhi’. Fred Blum – an academician with a life-long commitment to understanding the socio, economic and spiritual dimensions of non-violence, had conversation with six of Gandhi’s close associates in unfolding Gandhi as they had perceived. The narrative conversation is insightfully enriching.

Kripalani, who taught history, had once questioned Gandhi: ‘No where in history could regimes be toppled through non-violence.’ In his impeccable style, Gandhi had responded: ‘Professor, you teach history but I’m writing history.’

Understanding Gandhi captures that bit of history which can assist readers and researchers in drawing their version of Gandhi. Without doubt, it is a valuable addition to the Gandhi literature.....Link

Understanding Gandhiby Usha Thakkar and Jayshree Mehta
Sage, New Delhi
550 pages, Rs 550

Mother Nature or Father Greed

In challenging the widespread notion that the billions of people in Asia should aspire to an American way of life, Chandran Nair admits that Consumptionomics may not have all the answers to the question the book poses on consumption-led capitalism. Yet, it convincingly argues that Asia cannot have its cake and eat it too!

The prospect of a prosperous Asia is nonetheless exciting; however, it is this part of the world that has the greatest potential to impose stress on our planet if it decides to opt for a consumption-driven model of growth. Sample this: if Asia were to consume as much electricity as Europe – 150 kilowatt hours/ person/ day – it would use nine times energy as America consumes now.

There is no reason why Asians should not attain the living standards of their American counterparts but that can in no way be at the risk of earth’s annihilation! Nair proposes that Asia is perhaps now, given its stage of development and the harsh realities it faces, most suited to freeing capitalism from being the captive it has become of free market fundamentalists and ideologues.

Consumption-driven capitalism has driven countries in the region to a situation wherein people have mobile phones and falling water tables as well as broadband internet and rising level of greenhouse gas emissions. Without question, the growth-obsessed model has delivered short-term wealth to a minority; with a long term misery to all.

Nair calls it the intellectual dishonesty at the heart of the model the West has pedaled to Asia. Such a perception, howsoever incisive, will be contested by business and its cheerleaders. Unless the policymakers and academia rise to the occasion, the radical shift Consumptionomics proposes will be trivialized by the vested interests to defend their short-term agendas.

If that all sounds a bit far-fetched, so be it! Unless Asia chooses local development rather than urbanization, the mother earth will be at the mercy of father greed argues Nair. Overtly provocative, the strength of the book lies in it helping readers ask the ‘right questions’....Link

Consumptionomics
by Chandran Nair
Infinite Ideas, UK
206 pages, US$ 25

Permanence in a transient world

There are still bits of history in Wardha, the district town in Vidharbha, Maharashtra. There is an air of optimism as one strolls across the sleepy streets, sensing a whiff of peace and non-violence as people go about their daily chores. Modernity has yet to take full control on peoples’ life; the creative genius has an environment to flourish here.

Magan Sanghralaya, in the middle of the town, is a repository of non-violent tools and techniques for building an ‘economy of permanence’. It houses what Joseph Cornelius Kumarappa, whom Gandhi called the ‘doctor of village industries’, stood for in giving constructive shape to Gandhi’s revolutionary ideas.

Published over 65 years ago, Economy of Permanence is seemingly more relevant today then during the period it was written. Even as early as in 1945, Kumarappa had given a call to shun the use of non-renewable resources which he proclaimed belonged to a ‘bucket economy’ (where the water gets depleted) and exhorted that we need a ‘river economy’ instead (one that replenishes).

Partly experiential, the non-violent way of life is based on author’s own transformation from a Europeanized lifestyle. In detailing out the inter-related facets of life, lifestyle and livelihoods, Kumarappa builds his thesis on the premise that the life of man is transient in comparison with that of Nature, which is relatively permanent.

In his foreword to Economy of Permanence, Gandhi had observed that ‘it needs careful reading twice or thrice if it is to be fully appreciated’. Kumarappa was clearly ahead of his times, talking of moral values and cooperative banking in the same breath. With equal ease, he could relate standard of living to the idea of democracy as well.

Despite the book been written more than half a century ago, many of Kumarappa’s ideas are still being effectively pursued in and around Wardha. Economy of Permanence is a work of practical philosophy, insightful and inspiring at the same time.....Link

Economy of Permanence
by J C Kumarappa
Magan Sangrahalaya Samiti, Wardha
186 pages, Rs 200

Ignorance may not be bliss

At about the time when the Bhakra Dam was being built in the early 1960’s, a little known political movement was simultaneously gaining ground. Oblivious to the technology of generating power from flowing water, the proponents of the movement argued instead that power extracted from water will render the fluid sterile. Though the argument couldn’t stand the test of time, it did create some ripples in the corridors of power in Punjab.

The time may have changed but our ignorance of technology persists, in fact it has grown with each new gadget hitting the stores. The mobile phones and iPods bear testimony to the growing ignorance; only miniscule users are conversant with the myriad applications these gadgets come loaded with. While access to technology in itself is empowering, alienation from the same may have serious consequences especially when a tool is supposed to offer life saving results.

Alien Technology explores the intriguing levels of technology alienation, which is leading to the creation of a new kind of class system based on technology literacy. The pace with which corporations are rolling out new gadgets, a sense of inadequacy grips those who lack the ability to get a better sense of the technology. A vast majority may survive technological alienation and it indeed does but at the cost of being socially tagged as ‘less intelligent’.

Has technological sophistication made humans lesser intelligent? It indeed has, as child-like instinct of playing with new equipments using simply a screw driver is no longer possible. No wonder, our incessant obsession of technology has grown alongside our persistent ignorance of it. Using real-life examples, author Ananda Mitra engages the readers on a subject that has yet to catch the imagination of a vast majority, for whom ignorance is bliss.

Written in lucid language, Alien Technology is a timely introduction to a subject that has far reaching social and psychological implications. Ignorance and alienation can work against the masses in a variety of ways. Aren’t there computer users who still use predictable passwords, readily download any application or share details online, holding themselves vulnerable to computer hackers?....Link

Alien Technology
by Anand Mitra
Sage, New Delhi
224 pages, Rs 295

Protest you must!

Protest is a form of dissent that reflects an act of faith in a democracy and not otherwise. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects. At the core of every protest, be it in Sidi Bouazid or at Jantar Mantar, is a compelling quest for freedom. In many ways it is an ‘expression of popular democracy’ against an entrenched system that espouses ‘deficit democracy’ as its driving principle.

At times protests are in response to a trigger; however, more often these are energy-sapping strategic initiatives to bring about desired change. It is an act of performance in public that engages no less than 25 diverse backstage managers – from convenor to enforcer, from provider to adjudicator and from instigator to dialoguer – because each street protest or a long drawn campaign focuses on doing one thing: Winning!

Backed by two decades of campaigning experience, Chris Rose presents a brilliant how-to guide on designing campaigns and winning them. How to win campaigns offers carefully considered steps and tools to motivate and sustain a campaign. The book, Rose admits, is not science, but rather a collection of experiences based on trial and error, that may help campaigners choose them under varied contexts and diverse situations.

Given the fact that campaigning has become a full time vocation, the challenge to find creative and practical ways to engage with public to challenge vested interests that threaten a fairer and safer world has become daunting. From writing catchy slogans to designing informative diagrams and from drafting a press note to deciding on whether or not to opt for a celebrity, Rose delves in detail on the nuts and bolts of getting heard and achieving results.

There is a word of caution though! One can’t read this 400-page guide to launch a campaign; it can be helpful if one is already into a campaign mode or better still a handy guide to train next generation of campaigners. Buy the book if you are passionate about changing something for the better.....Link

How to Win Campaigns
by Chris Rose
Earthscan, London
400 pages, $40

Sky isn't the limit!

In his new book, Dickson Despommier argues that our future food needs can best be met by vertical farms, or ‘farmscrapers’, which are both environment friendly and economically sustainable. A city, he believes, can now choose to become a functional urban equivalent of a natural ecosystem by employing high-tech versions of waste-to-energy strategies, food production, and water-recovery systems -- all under one roof.

Agriculture has never been as fragile as it is today: climatically vulnerable and ecologically unsustainable. But it is only in the last few years that over 15,000 years of settled agriculture has been rendered insufficient and unsustainable. John Steinbeck’s depiction of the worst-case farm scenario, in The Grapes of Wrath, is seemingly coming to life, bringing the agricultural revolution to a close.

With no foreseeable let-up in world population for the next four decades at least, the goals of maintaining a productive environment and harvesting additional foodgrain may seem mutually exclusive. India is already importing more farm produce than ever before; China has lost parts of its 2010 harvest to erratic weather; and following droughts, half-a-million children are reportedly at risk of dying from starvation in Niger. The signs are ominous.

The largest setback on the farm front is possibly yet to come. Agriculture in its present form may not be able to feed a projected 9 billion people by 2050. Even if the world manages to come up with enough chemical nutrients to produce additional crops, there may not be enough freshwater supplies to irrigate new farmlands.

The compelling question is: Will technological advancements overturn this doom-and-gloom scenario?

Technological advancements in the 21st century could indeed make such troubles history. Efforts by individual farmers have the potential to spur a third Green Revolution. A Florida farmer wiped out by Hurricane Andrew re-invested in a greenhouse and replaced some 30 acres of outdoor farmland with a single acre of greenhouse-grown strawberries using hydro-stackers, allowing multiple layers of hydroponically grown crops in a unit area.

Such initiatives have led Dr Dickson Despommier, a public health microbiologist at New York’s Columbia University, to formulate the concept of ‘indoor’ farming. The consequent shift from nature-dependent agriculture to computer-controlled farming will cut external risks to a minimum and allow for secure, year-round production. The idea is to squeeze a whole ecosystem into one building for high production on a low resource base.

In his recently published book The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Despommier argues that with recent advances in the sustainable use of resources, a city can now choose to become a functional urban equivalent of a natural ecosystem by employing high-tech versions of waste-to-energy strategies, food production, and water-recovery systems -- all under one roof.

In fact, the Seattle-based Weber Thompson Architects has designed a multi-storey farm complete with hydroponic grow areas, grey water remediation, research facilities, retail space, and living quarters. Once built, such high-tech, water- and energy-efficient skyscrapers will occupy less than an acre of land and provide many acres of grain, vegetables and fruit. With several such designs on the cards, vertical farming could soon become a reality.

There are reasons for farming to go vertical. First, arable land the size of Brazil required to grow food to feed 1.6 billion extra mouths in the next four decades may not be available. Second, irrigating additional acres is unlikely as 70% of our freshwater has already been consumed. Third, frequent crop failure due to climate change is proving a setback to farming in many regions of the world.

A lot might have changed since Steinbeck’s classic novel was published in 1939, but the tragedies of that period have returned to haunt the farmer. Rising input costs, skewed trade barriers, erratic weather patterns, export-driven monoculture, and increasing farmer suicides have forced experts to conclude that today’s agricultural practices may not meet the needs of a growing population.

But a vertical farm with 30 floors the size of a Manhattan block in any city centre would ease the pressure on farms. Powered by geothermic, solar, biomass, or wind energy, such vertical farms could meet the entire food needs of 50,000 people. In addition to year-round crop production, a ‘farmscraper’ would consume 70-95% less water, purify grey water to drinking water, restrict the use of harmful agro-chemicals and ward off weather-related crop failures.

Despommier agrees that any first edition of an invention will cost a lot, like any one of our modern conveniences -- the hybrid car, plasma screen, or mobile phone. But the tangible and non-tangible gains from a vertical farm employing large-scale hydroponics and aeroponics (nutrient liquid and mist) should offset the initial costs -- sustained crop production without further damage to the environment and eco-restoration of freed farmlands are important spin-offs.

Constructed as a network of facilities, a typical vertical farm includes a building for growing food; a separate control centre for monitoring the overall running of the facility; a nursery for selecting and germinating seeds, quality-control laboratory to monitor food safety, document the nutritional status of each crop and monitor plant diseases; a facility for the vertical farm workforce, a green market; and, eventually, an eco-education centre for the general public.

In the last six years, Despommier has worked with over 100 research students to combine futuristic architecture with futuristic agriculture. Interestingly, some six universities in the US, Europe, South Africa and Australia are currently researching the farming of the future. The research focuses on an urban agro-production system such that lettuce or tomato would no longer travel 2,000 miles to reach their final destination.

Despommier has travelled the world presenting the idea of a ‘vertical farm’ to government and companies to secure large-scale funding to construct 20 prototypes. “For high-tech, high-efficiency farming, I would ultimately pick countries like Chad, Mali, Malawi and other African countries where farming is not only failing but where farming due to climate effect is unlikely to occur in the next 20-40 years,” he says.

In Vertical Farm, the author makes a strong case for bio-mimicking nature in a closed system wherein all waste will be reprocessed into usable resources without further damaging the environment.

Vertical Farm is a completely original work, a journey into the settled agriculture of several centuries and ‘farming of the future’. It is a book of world-changing innovation worthy of becoming a classic....Link

Vertical Farm
by Dickson Despommier
Thomas Dunne Books, St Martin’s Press
New York. Pages: 303. Price: US$ 25

Learning to live with poverty

So it may seem as the absolute number of poor has consistently grown – by current estimate an estimated over 1.4 billion women, men and children live in extreme poverty. Increasingly volatile food prices, the uncertain effects of climate change, and stifling of rural livelihoods by development juggernaut have impacted efforts to reduce poverty.

Despite the prescription to eradicate poverty having failed thus far, the Rural Poverty Report stays optimistic about eradicating rural poverty by the application of new opportunities that smallholder farmers can apply to boost their productivity. But, poverty eradication is inextricably intertwined with the need to feed the urban population, projected to touch 9 billion by 2050.

The report positions poverty within the market-driven demand-supply conundrum, seeking the need to strengthen the collective capabilities of rural people. While stressing the need for reforming the distorted global regime for trade in agricultural products, the report makes a demand on national stakeholders to provide an enabling environment for the smallholders.

Curiously, however, existing national policies may have removed poverty in many societies but that has been done by expanding the proportion and the absolute number of the destitute. Being a global agency that aims to ‘combat hunger and poverty in developing countries through low-interest loans’, IFAD views rural poverty predominantly from an asset perspective.

While acknowledging the multidimensional nature of poverty, the report misses out on the fact that poverty is a paradox of plural democracy that is wedded to global capitalism. Further, it does not take into account the glaring reality that as poverty gets increasingly associated with ethnic and cultural groups it loses political plot for its eradication. Consequently, it remains a game in `numbers’ that national governments and aid agencies play with growing immunity.

Published a decade after it had released its first poverty report, IFAD has covered significant new ground in analyzing the status of rural poverty across the world in the latest edition of its Rural Poverty Report. Although its conclusions are largely predictable, the report should nevertheless serve as a useful reference to researchers and planners.....Link

Rural Poverty Report 2011
IFAD, Rome, 319 pages, Price not quoted

Development, as it is not understood

Do those who are subjected to hegemony of dominant development perspectives produce a counter discourse? Doesn’t modernity marginalize the poor to the extent that they only lament their condition? Quite in contrast, even while overwhelmed by irony, distance and cynicism the marginalized produce a counter discourse that despite being context specific reflects resilience and adaptability, and is not only rooted in production and consumption but in regeneration too.

Works of immense scholarship, the twelve essays in the volume provide fresh insights on the role of culture in shaping the attitudes towards economic development of the marginalized community. The ongoing struggle of the marginalized is beyond the basic material entitlements, reflected in their collaborative resistance to stigmatized existence. That the powerless and voiceless need emancipation through aid is a misconstrued notion of development, it argues.

In the world that is reeling under the influence of climate change, ignoring the power of cyclic bio-regeneration and socio-ecological reproduction of the marginalized poor could indeed be catastrophic. Drawing cases from India, Europe and the Americas, Interrogating Development exposes multidimensionality of marginality as it relates to ‘development’. Without doubt, the notion of development has accentuated the destruction of community and its diverse cultures.

Delving deeper into the world of development from the perspectives of the marginalized, the authoritative essays by well-known authors like Frederique Marglin, Ashis Nandy, Gail Omvedt and Maren Bellwinkel-Schempp provide multi-layered insights into cultural dimension of human existence. In the long run, culture is what connects individuals to the social world in meaningful ways. Curiously, culture is what is at stake at the altar of development.

Without doubt, Interrogating Development will enrich the contemporary discourse on development at this time when the world is going through a dramatic phase of self-assertion by diverse communities reeling under the onslaught of development that is impinging on their life, lifestyle and livelihoods.....Link

Interrogating Development
by Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Sanjay Kumar & Arvind Mishra
Oxford University Press, Delhi
307 pages, US$ 29.95

Making sense of sustainability

Alan Atkisson does not belie expectations of those who have been following him ever since he first published Believing Cassandra, over a decade ago. The Sustainability Transformation is a must-read book for all those who have wanted to get a sense of what ‘sustainability’ means and how indeed can it be put into practice. Staying optimist, the author takes the reader into the world of immense possibilities.

Through case stories and personal anecdotes, Atkisson engages the reader on the essentials of making a sense of our interconnectedness with nature. The story of the dusky sparrow has transformative power – generating a desire to change things for the better. Faced with a choice between saving the dusky and reducing the bother of mosquitoes, local authorities chose the latter for setting up the space center at Central Florida, the habitat for this endemic bird.

Using his widely adopted ISIS Method – Indicators, Systems, Innovation and Strategy – Atkisson helps reader search for ‘sustainability’ within the complex jungle of such stories. Good Life Index is one such tool that helps awaken interest in sustainability and communicate its basic concepts to encourage people dig down into the details for a more systemic understanding, beyond the ordeal of the daily news.

Written in an informal and personal style, the Sustainability Transformation acts like a trigger towards positive change, both in thinking and in action. It demolishes many ill-conceived notions about ‘failure’ and helps the reader enter the world of immense ‘possibilities’. Through rigor of analysis, Atkisson has developed an excellent combination of theory and practice. No wonder, it is as much a book of theory as an operating manual, inspiring and visionary at each step.

Written with passion, conviction and foresight, the book argues that the ultimate vision of a sustainable world is immensely possible. And that too, in our life time only.....Link

The Sustainability Transformation
by Alan Atkisson 
Earthscan, London
323 pages, US$ 29.95

Across the fence negotiations

Be it the Ganges, Cauvery or Krishna, sharing river waters across sub-national or international boundaries has remained a formidable challenge. For decades on end, the treaties and tribunals haven’t been able to strike a deal for water sharing amidst warring sub-regions and regions. Quite often such conflicting situations get politicized beyond redemption, forcing popular sentiments to run over cooperative processes.

Yet, there are rivers like Mekong, Nile and Danube, passing through 6, 9 and 10 countries respectively, whose waters has been amicably shared amongst riparian countries. Notable is the fact that despite being culturally and politically diverse, countries in Africa, Europe and East Asia have been able to check politically hazardous conditions from overwhelming the water-sharing principles.

As the name suggests, the book provides an idealized view of how transboundary water management should be done. However, what should happen is not necessarily what does happen in real life. To illustrate the complexity involved in managing water across boundaries, fifteen diverse but successful initiatives from river-basins across the world have been presented. These cases present an experience-based inventory of strategies for transboundary water governance.

Transboundary Water Management is a well-researched book that not only provides the theoretical basis of managing water across boundaries but enlists approaches that have indeed worked too. As water rises higher on the political agenda, with lives of more and more people being either affected by too much or too little water, the book should provide a conceptual framework for planners and politicians to negotiate their compelling concerns.

It is a book of hope that considers transboundary waters a challenge that can be dealt with.....Link

Transboundary Water Management
by Anton Earle, Anders Jagerskog and Joakin Ojendal (Eds)
Earthscan, London; 261 pages, US$ 60

Between statistics and reality

Being context specific, the word livelihoods evokes diverse responses under varied conditions. For a politician, it offers a clever assurance of electoral gains; for a planner, it is a challenge to ensure growth inclusive; for a practitioner, it measures effectiveness of development programs and for the poor, it is a mirage to be relentlessly pursued. In a globalised world where gainful vocations are fast shrinking, livelihoods has attained the status of a buzzword.

Published annually since 2008, the latest edition of the State of India’s Livelihoods attempts to monitor livelihoods trends in a sector that has witnessed a quarter of a million farmer suicides during the past decade. The consequent disappearance of farm hands, growing demand-supply gap and spiralling food prices reflect only the tip of the iceberg. Paradoxically, farmers are dying on account of low prices whereas the consumers are complaining of exorbitant rates.

Over 80 per cent of land holdings in the country are so small that it cannot produce enough to sustain a family of five. Since fragmentation of landholdings is a continuous process, many more join in the search of livelihoods each year. And those who are forced to migrate to the cities confront a situation where industrial growth does not encourage the use of labour. It is a vicious circle wherein the poor get trapped involuntarily.

While unfolding the livelihoods crises in agriculture, the report examines a predictable cause-effect framework. Far from projecting futuristic scenarios, the contributors to the volume prefer to stay in the comfort zone of critically reviewing available statistics. The report misses out on the growth-driven policy push that is in favour of a demographic transition wherein only 20 per cent of the population shall remain at the farm.

Given its restricted focus, the State of India’s Livelihoods report should be of limited use to researchers and practitioners.....Link

State of India’s Livelihoods Report 2010
by Shankar Datta and Vipin Sharma (Eds) 
Sage Publications, New Delhi, 127 pages, Rs 795

The enigma called China

It is a geographical reality that as the sun goes down in the United States, the day starts in China. Conversely, however, it is the financial sun that has started to rise in China and set instead on the United States. That China is growing at an envious rate is a geo-political inevitability of our times. No wonder it is sourcing large quantities of expensive raw materials like copper, iron, oil and wood from across the world.

In the process of its sustained growth, a substantial amount of the world’s wealth has moved to China. Estimated at US$ 2.3 trillion, it is holding a quarter of the foreign currency reserves of the entire world. In comparison, the US had US$ 83 billion in foreign exchange reserves at that time. The shifting of American wealth to China had many political analysts quipping that President Obama had travelled to China so that he could ‘visit our money’.

While for many, the conflict between China and the United States appear to be both imminent and unavoidable, for author Handel Jones these facts point to a very real opportunity for governments and businesses of two countries to work together rather than be separated by economic tensions. The essential lesson for the United States is to stop the decline in public wealth by strengthening its industrial employment base.

Jones acknowledges the fact that China is fast becoming the industrial hub for the entire world. While there is a human and entrepreneurial side to China, the industrial side of China is a big machine that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 50 weeks a year. That this machine runs on the space meant for its communities and consumes strategic natural resources is a source of tension worldwide.

Chinamerica provides in-depth visibility on the enigma called China.....Link

Chinamerica
by Handel Jones
Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi ; 280 pages, pp 232, Rs 575

The crises of digital identity

Had Nandan Nilekani read the story of Stacy Snyder, he would have thought twice before launching the ambitious UID project. The story of Stacy goes like this: by spring of 2006, the 25-year-old single mother had completed her coursework and was looking forward to become a teacher. Summoned by university officials, she was told she would not be a teacher, although she had earned all the credits, passed all the exams and completed requisite practical training. She was denied her certificate, she was told, because her behavior was unbecoming of a teacher.

Shockingly, an online photo showing her in costume wearing a pirate’s hat and drinking from a plastic cup had done the trick. The university argued that the online photo was unprofessional since it might expose pupils to a photograph of a teacher drinking alcohol. Uploaded for the fun of it, the innocent act had proved costly. Not only Stacy’s offer to offload the photo got turned down, her law suit against the university wasn’t successful either.

Stacy’s case may sound exceptional, but it is not. Dozens of cases of profound embarrassment, and even legal action, have occurred since then. Curiously, the university's position does not reflect the validity or stupidity of its decision; instead it is about the importance of ‘digital identity’. The internet remembered what the likes of Stacy had long forgotten.

In Delete, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger traces the important role that forgetting has played throughout human history and analyses the manner in which this virtue has been undermined by digital technology. The trouble, argues Viktor, is that cheap storage and easy retrieval do not allow outdated information to fade away. The past is ever present, ready to be called up at the click of a mouse.

Delete broadens the ‘privacy’ debate to encompass the dimensions of time. It provides well-balanced account of the challenges we face in a world where our digital traces are saved for life.

While the economists argue that better information increases efficiency, the question remains whether humans can live in peace with their identity being stored, and quite often misused or misinterpreted for posterity? On a societal level such information enables policy makers to adjust policies before problems have gotten out of hand. But at a personal level, digitized personal details can be seen as an infringement on one’s privacy.

With background in business and technology, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger vividly depicts the legal, social and cultural implications of a world that will no longer remember ‘how to forget’. Digital remembering, argues Viktor, undermines the important role forgetting performs (to be forgiving to its members and to remain open to change), and thus threatens us individually and as a society in our capacity to learn, to reason, and to act in time.....Link

Delete - The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age
by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger
Princeton University Press, New Jersey 237 pages, US$ 25