We experience the culture of globalisation every time we visit a Tandoori restaurant in Chicago, or a Pizza Hut in Hyderabad, or as we watch Bollywood films in Australia. Globalisation is a label used for a wide range of political, social and cultural phenomena, many of which are explored in this volume.

The Politics and Culture of Globalisation: India and Australia brings together Indian and Australian experts in the fields of political science, international relations, philosophy, cultural theory and political economy. Its timeliness and unifying theme derive from comparisons between Indian and Australian perspectives, and analyses by Australian writers on developments in India. Indian-Australian relations are explored in several chapters.

The neo-liberal form of globalisation is a key focus of critique in this volume. Several chapters examine the search for alternative forms of governance as the nation-state undergoes profound change due to global interconnectedness.

‘An important contribution to the critical discourse on globalisation it is a unique Indo-Australian intellectual endeavour grappling incisively with deeper issues of philosophy and policy in the contemporary world.’

Manoranjan Mohanty,
Council for Social Development, New Delhi

‘With its cogent analysis and lucid style, this volume is a valuable addition to critical readings on globalisation…The focus on process – governance, institutions, and area studies – is an added strength... With its analytical depth and empirical stretch, it will be a valuable addition to this important field.’

Subrata K Mitra,
University of Heidelberg, Germany 

‘It will be a very useful volume for all the graduate students who are trying to understand [the] complex and multi faceted nature of the phenomenon of globalisation.’

Rajen Harshe,
Vice Chancellor, University of Allahabad

Hans Löfgren is Director of the Master of Politics and Policy Program at Deakin University, Australia. He has published extensively on the politics and economics of pharmaceuticals, for example in New Political Science (2007), Australia New Zealand Health Policy (2007) and Social Science & Medicine (2004).

Prakash Sarangi is Professor of Political Science at the University of Hyderabad. His publications include Liberal Theories of State: Contemporary Perspectives (1996) and Political Exchange and Public Policy: A Cross-National Analysis (1990).

Making sense of globalisation
Justice, Globalisation and Diverse Conceptual Worlds – Michael Leahy
Ontology of Permanence and Change: A Critique of Globalisation – A. Raghuramaraju
Neo-liberal Hyperglobalism in Australian Political Thought – Geoffrey Stokes
Hyperglobalisation’s Casualty: The Numerical Small – Purushottama Bilimoria

Governance and globalisation
Globalization and Indian Federalism: Re-assertion of States’ Rights – Harihar Bhattacharyya
Challenges of Globalisation in Urban Local Governance – Sudha Mohan
Understanding Community Governance and Rural Regeneration in a Globalised World – Kevin O’Toole
Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals in South India: ‘Sun-rise’ Industrialisation or Global Cost-shifting of Dirty Goods Manufacturing – G.Vijay
India’s Drug Multinationals: Growth Strategies and Global Industry Dynamics – Hans Löfgren

Experiencing globalisation
‘The Good Australians’: Anglo-Indians, Multiculturalism and Cosmopolitanism – Glenn D’Cruz
Cosmopolitanism and Tolerance – Stan van Hooft
Late Marxism and Parliamentary Government: Indian Communism Today  – Geoff Robinson

Indian Australian relations and security in the era of globalisation
Indo-Australian Relations in the Post-Cold War Period – Y. Yagama Reddy and Ken Boutin
Indo-Australian Relations: Beyond Indifference – Gary Smith
Terror, Power and Protest – Andrew Vandenberg
Globalisation, ‘Glocalisation’ and South Asian Insecurity –B. Ramesh Babu.