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Heterodox Perspectives on Economic Development

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (CST)

Marriott Riverwalk, Alamo Ballroom Salon A
Hosted By: Union for Radical Political Economics
  • Chair: Donia Dowidar, University Grenoble Alpes

Pursuit of Food Sovereignty in Egypt: A Look at Farmers-Led Financing Initiatives

Donia Dowidar
,
University Grenoble Alpes

Abstract

Food sovereignty is an essential policy goal for many developing countries, including Egypt, where food dependency on the international market jeopardizes food security. However, implementing food sovereignty remains a challenge due to a variety of economic, social, and political factors. This paper explores the sufficiency of Egyptian farmers’ adopted financing mechanisms as a mean of advancing food sovereignty in Egypt. The authors provide an overview of the agro-food system in Egypt, highlighting the challenges of the current system and opportunities to overcome these challenges within a food sovereignty framework. The authors will analyze existing financing mechanisms, such as agricultural cooperatives, agriculture insurance, rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) and illustrate how to integrate these financial mechanisms into a comprehensive food sovereignty financial framework for Egypt. The authors also discuss the key considerations for implementing these mechanisms, including regulatory and policy barriers, market forces, and the role of government and international organizations. This research enriches the academic literature on food sovereignty and agricultural development by exploring the financial dimensions of such development and offers valuable perspectives for economists and policymakers in this domain.

Cold War and the Geopolitical Economy of Industrialization in Pakistan

Fahd Ali
,
Information Technology University of the Punjab

Abstract

The economic historians of south Asia have paid scant attention to the role the cold war played in industrialization strategies pursued in the region. This is particularly true for Pakistan, which was a major US ally during the cold war. The history of industrialization in Pakistan remains under studies particularly from a cold war perspective. The accounts of industrialization available are ‘neo-Weberian’ as they are state centric and inadequately explain the industrial strategy followed in the country. We follow a geopolitical economy approach to understand industrial strategy pursued by Pakistan during the cold war. The time period covered is 1947-70. We rely on hitherto unused Government of Pakistan and the more oft cited US State department archives to argue that cold war dynamics played an important role in shaping the country’s institutional structure for industrial development. This was particularly evident in the “central planning with a market approach” type of economic planning pursued in the country during this period.

Firm Structure, Market Structure, and Firm Dynamics: A Study of Some Micro-firms of West Bengal

Himadrija Chakraborty
,
Visva-Bharati University

Abstract

Despite a high growth rate, the ongoing proliferation of informality in developing countries like India has induced a vibrant discussion on this sector (Chakrabarti, 2016; Raj & Sen, 2016; Bhattacharya & Kesar, 2018). In view of the extensive literature on the informal sector of India, we want to explore, using field-level data, the structures of the firms and markets and their probable impacts on the firm dynamics.
This paper intends to analyse the firm structure (focusing on labour process), market structure (focusing on intermediary presence), and firm dynamics (focusing on persistence or progression) of the micro-firms based on field-level data encompassing four locations in West Bengal (Asansol, Bolpur, Dhaniakhali, and Tantipara) engaged in two broad types of informal activities (Forging-fabrication and handloom weaving).
Our empirical analysis suggests that, while handloom is entirely household labour-based activity, forging & fabrication use hired labourers significantly. However, barring a few, these micro-firms are non-capitalistic in nature, having collaboration among the intra-firm actors instead of the capital-labour dichotomy. In market structure, there is presence of intermediaries, especially in handloom. Contrary to popular belief regarding intermediaries, be it competitive or non-competitive linkages, firms are experiencing collaboration with market agents. In firm dynamics, limited or negative net surplus seems to be a constraint for accumulation. Despite this inability of firms to accumulate, willingness for expansion is there. However, for a significant number of firms, the motive behind this expansion is survival rather than accumulation, a typical character of the “Need economy”(Sanyal, 2007).

For Every Knight in Shining Armor there is a Castle Waiting to be Cleaned: The Indian Case

Vishal Choudhury
,
FLAME University and University of Missouri-Kansas City

Abstract

The social totality, as per Resnick and Wolff (1987), comprises of ‘sites’ of production with each site made distinct by the forms in which the surplus labor is produced, appropriated, and distributed. Different forms varying from primitive communist, slave, feudal, ancient, capitalist, and other differentiations can coexist within the social totality. (Chakrabarty and Cullenberg, 2003; Hindess and Hirst, 1975; Resnick & Wolff, 1987; 2006) The point for Marxist class analysis is to inquire and investigate which of the known forms of the class processes are present in any society or social site chosen for scrutiny. This paper investigates and assesses the interaction between the feudal site of the household and the capitalist site of production within the Indian context and its impact on the Indian social totality. This entails an examination of how the feudal class processes within households affects capitalist wage exploitation and how the existence of capitalist class processes within enterprises affects the exploitation of women within the feudal households. The objective is to question the predictable and constant relationship between females’ unpaid household labor and men’s capitalist wages in the Indian social totality.
JEL Classifications
  • O1 - Economic Development
  • B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches