Finance and Development: Essays Presented to C.P. Chandrasekhar

This edited volume celebrates the work of C.P. Chandrasekar, a leading economist from the global South. His efforts and achievements – as scholar, as teacher and as institution builder – are rooted in his lifelong commitment to a progressive and egalitarian transformation of Indian society as well as of the world order. As an economist he has chosen to depart from the mainstream approaches that rationalize structural inequalities in economic relations, within countries like India or between countries at the global level. Instead, he places inequality as the central element in explaining economic phenomena. Chandrasekhar is a leading public intellectual who has written and intervened extensively in popular discussions on economic issues.

This festschrift comprises contributions from scholars who have been among Chandrasekhar’s teachers, colleagues and collaborators, his students, or those who have otherwise gained from his work. It is a collective tribute to an extraordinary person and his remarkable career. True to his varied expertise, interests and research, the essays presented here cover a wide array of issues: money and finance, industrial policy, climate finance, financialization, imperialism and social reproduction, among others. While the essays critically engage with these issues, they also provide a roadmap beyond neoliberalism for the world in general, and for the global South in particular. This volume should interest all who believe in a political and economic alternative to the current orthodox approach to economic theory and policy.

Rohit Azad teaches at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

Surajit Mazumdar is Professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

Parthapratim Pal is Professor in the Economics Group at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata.