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New Mechanisms of Imperialism in India: The Special Economic Zones

No scheme of the Indian government has evoked as much pannational controversy in recent years as the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for industry units aimed at exports. This has resulted in the displacement of poor farm families and villagers, brutal land acquisition, and gross human-rights violations by the state at the behest of private capital. No doubt, the SEZs have resulted in immense social and political injustices. But in addition, there is the economic infeasibility of the scheme, which is not discussed as much. The weakness of the economic rationale being offered by the state and big businesses is easy to see. When the economic arguments for the scheme are deconstructed, it becomes very evident that SEZs are nothing more than a manifestation of the state’s genuflection to private monopoly capital. Addressing the economic rationale (and its obvious weaknesses) is important because this rationale is always used by the powers that be to justify rights violations when the scheme is implemented: it is ok if poor families are brutally displaced because the employment generated will be of a much larger magnitude; some agricultural land must be acquired because the exports industries set up will help in economic growth; exports catering to the international market are important to boost the economy; fiscal breaks and labour deregulation are needed because they will attract investment; investment is needed because there is insufficient capital in the country, which is further needed to expand the industrial base. And so the list of economic justifications for rights violations goes on. In addition to providing counter-arguments to the SEZ scheme,