Writings of Thingnam Kishan
-Introduction to Four Essays -
- Part 3 -

By: Alternative Perspectives *

The essay, 'Understanding Underdevelopment: A Contextual Reading of India's Look East Policy and Manipur'[15] traces the history of underdevelopment of Manipur's economy to the insinuation of British colonial policies while bringing to the fore an argument that anticipates India's LEP project as an attempt to furthering the process of underdevelopment of the economy.

The crucial point in the argument is about a shift that takes place when Manipur's precapitalist mode of production is introduced to the capitalist mode of production during the British rule.

This turn takes the shape of a shift from that of self-sufficient economy to that of 'peripheral capitalism', a notion that is characterised by 'a high degree of integration into the world capitalist marketand 'a low degree of development of the capitalist mode of production internally'.[16]

It is a transition from self sufficiency in pre-colonial period to a dependent peripheral capitalism that is effected through changes from its role as an independent polity with its independent economy to its new role in the colonial period as an importer of consumer commodities in exchange for raw materials that constituted mainly of forest and agricultural produce.

In the post-British period Manipur eventually becomes a market for products manufactured elsewhere. These changes were foregrounded on the capitalist mode of production that operates during both colonial period and period after Manipur became a part of India's capitalist economy since 1947.

Another focus of the essay is founded on interrogating the assumptions behind the development framework projected in LEP. Kishan argues that the fragile economy that is based on cottage based sectors like handloom and handicrafts face imminent threat that arises from interface with a huge upsurge of entry points for the global capitalism.

He writes:

Opening up of the state and the region without a complementary transformation of its industrial base would naturally entail the destruction of these small scale units. At this juncture, it is pertinent to note that there has been no significant move on the part of the policy makers in New Delhi to develop economic and industrial infrastructure in the region.

Mere opening up in terms of providing accessibility to the region therefore entails the risk of destroying the fragile household industries in the region. It will only tend to serve the interest of the global capitalist market....

Manipur as a peripheral economy can only witness the massive erosion of its marginal productive base. Look East Policy eventually seeks to further the cause of globalization at the expense of the underdeveloped world.[17]

These essays contribute to further examining political shaping of policy discourse in relation to the working of a dependent economy. One of the serious questions that are being engaged in the essays needs to be discussed: Does the policy discourse of development in North East reflect any substantial concern and objective in order to transform the condition of dependency?

The fourth essay, 'Economics of Underdevelopment: Reading the North East'[18] attempts to answer the above question. It is an intervention in the debates on the very nature of development in the region.

Raising a fundamental question about making production as the foundation for a meaningful development the essay argues that existing policies in the region emphasise establishment of market for products coming from elsewhere. What needs to be done for any attempt to transform the 'peripheralization'[19] of the economy of the region, according to Kishan, is to utilize the region's resources as the basis of production.

In other words, development policies should not remain detached from production. Giving a critique of 'mainstream' Indian discourse, the essay represents a possible alternative to the emphasis that ignores 'the inextricable relation of modes of production to modes of development'.[20]

While resisting the politics of monolithic discourse Kishan suggests that a detail analysis of underdevelopment of productive forces in the region is crucial for any attempt to understand the 'failures behind economic policies and packages designed in the power corridors of New Delhi '.[21]

The point is that development policies in the region including LEP and its co-ordinate rhetorics remain truthful only in the sense that they reflect the nature of the ways in which dependency is still protected for the benefit of a dominant few.

We pay our homage to Oja Kishan for his inspiration towards establishing a republic of ideas where everybody is capable of speaking up about the common woes, the woes of being dependent and finally about the desire for emancipation in the times yet to come.

concluded....

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* "Writings of Thingnam Kishan: Introduction to four Essay" as Published in the Aternative Perspectives at J.N. Dance Academy, Imphal on March 22, 2009 . This article was webcasted on January 12th 2010.