Book launch

On February 19 Asia Research Centre is hosting a book launch for the book Transformation and Development: The Political Economy of Transition in India and China edited by Amiya Kumar Bagchi and Anthony P. D’Costa (Oxford University Press, November 2012)

In this wide-ranging set of essays on India and China, more than a dozen leading political economists share their expertise to provide a nuanced and critical appreciation of the process of Transformation and Development in the two largest and economically fast growing nations. Both countries are contributing to the realignment of the world economy at a time when advanced capitalist countries are reeling under a severe financial crisis. Yet both India and China in the process of transition are characterized by deep rural poverty, unprecedented forms of inequality and social and economic imbalances, excessive reliance on volatile export markets, brutal land grabs, and forms of ‘crony’ capitalism. The eighteen contributors collectively engage in the discussion of these and other related issues such as agriculture and accumulation, food grain supply chain, savings and investment, growth and inequality, global finance and outward foreign direct investment, science and technology, and R&D policies. The net result is a detailed tapestry capturing the dynamics of India and China in an interdisciplinary, historically-sensitive way that both acknowledges the significant strides the two economies have made in the last sixty years and points to the deep social, economic, and political divides that need to be urgently addressed for shared prosperity and meaningful social progress.

At the book launch Anthony P. D'Costa, Professor of Indian Studies and Research Director, Asia Research Centre, CBS, will give a talk titled "Primitive Accumulation, Compressed Capitalism, and Indian Transition". Dr. Kent Deng, Reader in Economic History, London School of Economics, will give the presentation "The Chinese Peasantry and Primitive Accumulation of Capital in China, 1800 to 2010".

Registation

The event is free of charge but please sign up by writing arc.int@cbs.dk