Bringing together academic discussions on public policy and the experiences of the common people of India, this collection of essays by a range of eminent scholars across disciplines tackles the problems of contemporary development policy and contributes to the ongoing debate.

The current financial crisis has clearly demonstrated the inability of international financial institutions to maintain a stable global economic order. However, few challenges to this order have been taken seriously due to the nearly complete dominance of the ideology of free markets. This volume contributes to the emerging critique of the present economic order and attempts to find alternatives.

The essays originate from testimonies given at the Independent People’s Tribunal on the World Bank held in New Delhi. The book discusses the ways in which the World Bank has used undue leverage to impact key sectors of India’s economy and shows that the Bank’s policies of extreme marketisation, trade liberalisation and reduced public spending have created a shocking trend of jobless growth and increased poverty for the majority of people in India. It also covers the negative impacts of the World Bank on local democratic processes and their negative ramifications on the environment. This work is a timely contribution to the debate over pro-poor versus pro-corporate development policy in India and across the globe.