Yeh “Liberal Agenda” kya hai?
Last Friday (27th), we had the third meeting of a small group of politically active friends here in London.
I shared a few slides on “Liberalism” at the meeting as introduction to a discussion we had about FTI.
Do have a look and do share your thoughts/comments. Rohit has already raised some (very good and valid) points on this and I hope he will share them in the comments section below.
View more presentations from Shantanu.
Look forward to hearing from many of you,
Jai Hind, jai Bharat!
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Thanks Shantanu
What is liberalism? I suggest it it is not ‘maximum freedom’ nor ‘minimal government’. It would be better to stick to a simple formulation: maximal equal freedom subject to accountability. That ensures it is not misrepresented. I’ve noted a strong tendency among the public to misread liberalism as libertarianism, or reckless freedom. I think your reference to my article on unbridled capitalism helps clarify what this means.
I’ve also had this experience with a recent review of my book: http://www.sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/book1/indialink.html and to clarify to the reviewer as follows:
http://tinyurl.com/dlxg2l
People constantly misunderstand the language. So we’ve got to be very clear to repeat (endlessly!) that we are talking about people being accountable for their actions.
Also it may be useful to classify government functions into core (first order) functions (law and order, justice, defence), second order ones (e.g. equal opportunity, public goods), and then the third order ones (rarely justifiable). Neither the words minimal government or strong government, in themselves, explain what we mean.
Regards
Sanjeev
Sanjeev: Very good point…I should be careful while trying to simplify concepts!
The slides are continuing work in progress…I may be speaking to another group of students soon (at Oxford – thanks to Dipinder) and will use a more refined version for that audience.
Shantanu,
Can I ask what’s the philosophical basis/framework of “liberal agenda” and how and why that was chosen? Were other philosophical frameworks considered?
Kaffir: Thanks…The basic framework (assuming I have understood your question correctly) of this is “Individual Liberty”…
Sanjeev may be able to articulate this better…I hope he responds to your question too.
Re. how and why this was chosen: The slides were meant to introduce FTI – whose philosophy is closely tied to Liberty and Liberalism.
Hope that answers your question?
As an aside, Minimum government, maximum governance by Mukul G Asher
Excerpts here
Award-winning journalist, P.Sainath, examines the impact of corporate globalization on Indian society. He argues that neoliberal policies have increased inequality and have had devastating affects on the poor, including farmers.
http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?82638401001
Please provide critics on this.
||namO Bhaartam, namO Sanskritam ||
Q&A session with P.Sainath:
http://apnabhaarat.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/inequalities-in-india/
Pl read two excellent posts by Sanjeev on the distinction between Liberalism and Liberal Anarchism:
The absurd dreams of libertarian anarchists and
Libertarian anarchy as an example of “blind†reason
There has been some discussion on a separate forum re. whether the phrase “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” should be attributed to Narendra Modi.
My view on this is I am not sure it was coined by Sh Modi.
UPDATE: Apparently the phrase was used by Sh Modi first, in Jan ’08 at a speech during the Annual meeting of Cho Ramaswamy’s Tamil magazine Thuglak in Chennai.: http://blog.offstumped.in/2008/02/22/narendra-modis-chennai-speech-youtube-video/
Prof Mukul Asher used this phrase in Mar ’08 while describing Gujarat and contrasting this with other states – but the exact opposite of this phrase was used in 2001 by another writer http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/marticles/maximum_government.htm
In the last few years, the phrase has been widely used by other commentators and leaders too e.g. Rajiv Chandrashekhar (Rajya Sabha MP): http://www.rajeev.in/blog/?p=362
Interesting concept of “private governance” – and ways of moving away from the “mai-baap” sarkaar:
..My research focuses on environmental governance, but the point is broader, and I think it’s important to recognize the idea that private governance is not limited just to the environmental area, private governance exists in many areas. Firms [create private governance when] they set labor standards for their suppliers and in their supply chains.
There are also private financial standards.
Recently, two candidates for higher office entered into a contract whereby they agreed to certain campaign finance rules. So, rather than relying on Congress to set campaign finance rules, two candidates privately agreed that they would not accept certain money or not spend more than certain amounts.
The phenomenon of private governance actually extends quite broadly, and I think it’s important to recognize that.
@AAryan (~6): Pl read PLease do you r math Sainath. Excerpts here