Proponents of economic growth claim that it will trickle down to everyone, and it will be good for all. But is this the case?
Drawing on her co-authored book, Ground Down by Growth, Alpa Shah looks at how capitalism is entrenching social inequalities in India through inherited inequalities of power; seasonal casual labour migration; and the conjugated oppression of class, tribe, caste and gender.
Focusing on India’s Dalits and Adivasis – its low castes and tribes, historically stigmatized as ‘untouchable’ and ‘wild’ – who today account for one in twenty-five people in the world, Shah reveals how they are the hidden source of cheap labour and land from which much of the world economy benefits, but also highlights how they are fighting against the situation they find themselves in.