Neoliberal Agenda: Inequality by Design

Contrary to liberal presumptions, social oppression on the lines of caste, gender, communalism, race, nationality etc. is both a cause and consequence of the accumulation and diffusion of capital. By its very design, the capitalist system prioritises unceasing attempts at profit enhancement (APE) over all other social processes. This APE-like behaviour of capitalists, when ideologically conflated with maximisation of profit, is used to make the dubious claim that the capitalist system is efficient. This claim is dubious because the very working of the capitalist system (characterised by anarchy and antagonism) prevents capitalists from actually achieving such a maximisation since the production of a greater surplus is less favourable to the realisation of this surplus as profits (in terms of money).

Moreover, the very working of the capitalist system, involving both the centralisation and concentration of capital, tends to relatively emphasise the tendency toward monopoly over that toward proliferation of capital. While the proliferation of capital does proceed, it does not lead to any tendency for the social composition of the capitalist class to become like the social composition (in terms of caste, gender, race etc.) of the population.

Likewise, the social composition of high wage workers does not tend toward the social composition (in terms of caste, gender, race etc.) of the population. If that composition were achieved, it would, among other things, make exploitation in the capitalist system transparent.

Therefore, in the context of India, most capitalists, especially monopoly capitalists, tend to be rich savarna (upper caste) men (and that too not proportionately among all savarna castes) belonging to particular regions of India, while the socially oppressed (tribals, Muslims, Dalits, Other Backward Castes, women etc.) are disproportionately represented in low wage employment and petty production with little or no assets. 

Inequality by Design

The capitalist system, in its neoliberal phase, is ideologically constructed as being based on competition, ostensibly leading to efficiency while actually involving increasingly deregulated competition between monopolies. However, markets (dominated by capital) in India (or elsewhere for that matter) have never been open, “merit”-based spaces. Instead, these are shaped and dominated by caste networks that reinforce exclusionary practices.

The socially oppressed sections are systematically excluded since they are disproportionately workers and peasants, including petty producers, whose organisations are often weakened by (elite-driven) diversion from common struggles around livelihood.

Urban markets, often heralded as ‘engines of growth’, remain gate-kept by elites of dominant caste communities, perpetuating caste-based hegemony and systematically but unevenly barring tribals, Muslims, Dalits, other backward castes etc. from being able to even meet their livelihood requirements.

The neoliberal phase of the capitalist system in India and elsewhere has seen a squeeze on the working people. But this squeeze has been differentiated among different social strata. The “trickle-down” effects promised by denizens of the neoliberal project have failed to materialise for the working people, especially for the oppressed communities, leaving most Dalits, Muslims, tribals and other backward castes trapped in precarious informal activities where they are super-exploited in jobs that are precarious. The neoliberal phase of the capitalist system thrives on the perpetuation of caste (and other types of social oppression), ensuring a steady supply of precarious labour power to further the accumulation of capital.

Myth of Merit

Neoliberal ideologues often invoke “merit” to justify disparities, suggesting that markets (i.e. capital) reward effort and talent. This framework not only obfuscates the actual exclusionary working of capital but disregards how capital builds on historical injustices and systemic barriers to reinforce social oppression.

The socially oppressed are differentially denuded of assets (land, enterprise capital etc.), credit, high wage jobs, education etc. This structural constraint makes the liberal premise of merit a façade. Instead, the neoliberal project unevenly deepens inequalities and deprivation. Social oppression is normalised by repeated violent attacks on Dalits, tribals, Muslims etc.

Recent works highlight how caste identities mediate even migration and urban employment opportunities. The disproportionate share of social elites among capitalists and in high-wage jobs is securely reinforced by social network relations working along caste lines. Such a process of exclusion ensures that while the claims of social mobility and inclusion are hollow for all working people, it is especially so for the socially oppressed.

Need for Popular Mobilisation, Affirmative Policies

The modicum of empowerment that tribals, Dalits, and other backward castes have unevenly attained is principally through the policy of reservation in the country (whose implementation is geographically uneven) and redistributive land reform mainly in four states. It is these policies (and not the unfolding of the neoliberal project) that has partially disrupted entrenched hierarchies by creating some opportunities where none existed, enabling Dalits, tribals and other backward castes to access public education and public employment, claim political agency, and mount a challenge systemic oppression.

As a result of the reservation policies, a new strata (the middle class), that is relatively small, has emerged unevenly across various socially oppressed strata. Policies of affirmative action not only empower individuals from socially oppressed strata but also fosters collective organisations that articulate their aspirations and resist systemic domination.

However, the neo-fascist dispensation that hegemonises the neoliberal project in India has sought to counter even this limited process of empowerment by a number of measures.

One, privatisation and commercialisation, which reduces the magnitude of public employment and quality of and access to public education.

Two, the pauperisation of the peasantry and small business that disproportionately impacts the relatively empowered segments of the socially oppressed.

Three, seeking to exclude the ostensible creamy layer among Dalits and tribals which amounts to an abridgement of reservation since the “creamy layer” (middle class) is not eligible for reservation while the non-creamy layer, who are disproportionately impacted by social oppression, could be excluded by dubious eligibility criteria. The antipathy of the neo-fascist ruling dispensation toward social justice fails to remain implicit and finds expression in public statements.

Combatting Caste Oppression

The capitalist system is the anti-thesis of empowerment of the working people in their entirety.  During its dirigiste phase, the capitalist system and capitalists the world over were compelled by the existence of the socialist system and popular struggles to make concessions to the working people. While the socially oppressed were not proportionately included in this process of empowerment, the process itself was undeniable. But the neoliberal phase of the capitalist system, through a squeeze on the working people, has not only reversed these temporary gains but has effected a greater squeeze on the socially oppressed.

A furthering of justice for the socially oppressed and the working people requires popular mobilisation driving affirmative policy-making and effective implementation. A caste census is a necessary precondition to design policies to combat caste oppression.

Reservations in both the public and private sectors spanning jobs and education as well as credit, redistributive land reform, private shareholding and making the employment guarantee programme universal are some of the measures that are essential to further the realisation of the promise of the anti-colonial freedom struggle to combat caste oppression.

Shirin Akhter is Associate Professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi. C Saratchand is Professor, Department of Economics, Satyawati College, University of Delhi. The views are personal.