Editorial Note, Jan-Feb, 2013

The lead article in this issue by Prabhat Patnaik surveys India’s social, political and economic journey over the 65 years since Independence, during which the country has moved from what appeared to be a revolution in the middle of the twentieth century to a virtual counter-revolution. Starting from an elaboration of the prerequisites for establishing the community of equals envisaged by the Karachi Resolution, Patnaik discusses the many failures of policy that prevented the realisation of that objective. Those failures combined with a host of national and global developments led to the shift to the neoliberal strategy that provided the basis for the counterrevolution, which redistributes wealth and income in favour of capital. The consequences of that counter-revolution have implied increasing inequality, social retrogression and a growing synchronisation of economic trends in India and the global economy. However, the article suggests, the fact that the crisis of neoliberal capitalism is affecting India as well could precipitate a change. It may force the middle class and the intelligentsia, experiencing an end to their period of prosperity, to make common cause with the vast numbers of the exploited, oppressed and marginalized in Indian society.