Effects of Globalisation on Indian Society

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination, Paper II: General Studies I.

Effects of globalization on Indian society.

Topics in detail

Meaning and drivers

• Globalisation: economic, political, cultural and technological dimensions
• Drivers: trade, investment, technology, the internet, migration, global media
• India’s economic reforms of 1991 (liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation)

Effects on the economy and work

• Growth of services and information technology; new middle classes
• Effects on agriculture, small industry and artisans; world trade rules and farm prices
• Changes in employment: informalisation, contract work, the gig economy
• Rising inequality between regions and groups

Effects on society and culture

• Consumerism and changing lifestyles; food habits and lifestyle diseases
• Urbanisation and the growth of global cities in India
• Cultural homogenisation, hybridisation and ‘glocalisation’; revival of local identities
• Effects on the family, marriage and the elderly
• Effects on women: new opportunities and new vulnerabilities
• Youth, aspirations and global media
• Languages: spread of English and the place of Indian languages
• Tribal and rural communities: displacement and market integration
• Migration and the Indian diaspora; remittances

India’s influence on the world

• Spread of Indian culture abroad: yoga, cuisine, films, music; soft power
• The Indian diaspora as a bridge; Indian firms going global

Assessment

• Positive effects: jobs, choices, access to knowledge, exposure to new ideas
• Negative effects: insecurity, loss of traditional livelihoods, cultural erosion, environmental stress
• Ways to make globalisation inclusive: skills, social security, protection of local culture

Overlaps

• International economic institutions and trade belong to General Studies II and General Studies III.