Output details

Enterprise Culture in Neoliberal India: Studies in Youth, Class, Work and Media

Nandini�Gooptu�s current research project is on India�s enterprise culture and this book arose out of a conference she organised on that subject, for which she defined the analytical agenda. She is the sole author of the Introduction, in the first part of which (pp 1-14) she sets out the conceptual framework and problems for analysis that underpin both the book and her own research. Enterprise culture is taken as the analytical lens through which to examine social, cultural and attitudinal change in�neoliberalising India. Enterprise culture is conceived in terms of the creation of autonomous, aspiring, active enterprising selves, and it is explored in the realm of public culture, social practice, and personal lives. From this perspective, the central research question posed in the book (and derived from�Gooptu�s wider research project) is the nature and extent of the spread of enterprise culture in India, its novel qualities and its relation to pre-existing ideas and practices. The book enquires into the myriad manifestations of enterprise culture, differentiated along the lines of class, gender and generation. Three sets of analytical problems are addressed. The first set of chapters (including Chapter 4, solely authored by Gooptu, on new spiritual organisations) examines how various actors and institutions construct dominant ideas about enterprise in public discourse. The second set of chapters (including Chapter 8, co-authored by Gooptu, on housewives and reality TV) analyses how individuals and groups embrace ideas and practices of enterprise with unintended consequences, while the final set of chapters investigates contested and contradictory dimensions of enterprise culture.�Gooptu�s contribution in Chapter 8 is approximately 80 per cent,�which includes�formulating all analytical arguments,�writing the chapter in entirety and doing much of the primary field-research (analysis of TV programmes and focus group discussions with housewives).�