Genevieve Blanchett
In the collection of essays that is Power politics, Arundhati Roy presents an attack on the forces of modern globalisation through an exploration of the privatisation of India's power supply and the popular struggle against the "economically unviable, ecologically destructive and deeply undemocratic" construction of a 'mega-dam' (Roy 2001: 99). Power politics is about power and its disguises, and Roy describes India's situation as a "microcosm of the world" (Roy 2001:3), one where there is "an undeclared civil war being waged on its subjects in the name of 'development'" (Roy 2001: 4). Power politics is also an alarum for free speech and questions the notion that only 'experts', with their "dubious politics" (Roy 2001: 27) and vested interests, are qualified to pass comment on matters of civil importance.
Roy paints a bleak picture of two Indias headed "resolutely in opposite
directions" (Roy 2001: 3). The tiny elite, who control the means of production,
are on a path to "a glittering destination" while the rest simply
"[melt] into the darkness and disappear" (ibid). While this process
is not exclusive to underdeveloped nations, Roy observes that "in India
your face is slammed right up against it" (ibid).
King Rumplestiltskin, "a malevolent, incorporeal, transnational multi-gnome"
(Roy 2001: 35), is the choice metaphor Roy uses to explore the immense and disguised
powers of modern globalisation. Roy contends that globalisation in India manifests
as a "mutant form of colonialism" (Roy 2001: 14) orchestrated by King
Rumpel's cabal of TNCs, the WTO and the United States, and supported by a "corrupt,
dysfunctional executive" (Roy 2001:101). This exploitation and domination
of workers and local markets in the name of 'progress' operates in much the
same way as the East India Trading Companies, which created colonial India,
and builds on the ancient inequalities created by the caste system (Roy 2001:17).
Roy points out the iniquity of the WTO (led by North America and its heavily
subsidised agricultural sector) pressuring India to lift import restrictions
and subsidies as a condition of membership, when surplus grain stores are rotting
in government silos and millions of subsistence farmers and Dalit (untouchable)
laborers are struggling for daily survival. These measures were adopted to supposedly
create a 'competitive' global market, but Roy poses the pertinent question:
competitive for whom? (Roy 2001: 16).
The Maheshwar Dam, slated to be India's first major privatised hydroelectric project, is but one in a series of 30 big dams along the Narmada Valley in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. Far outweighing any potential benefit, the negative social, environmental and economic impacts of these dams are enormous and form the focus of the nonviolent, people's resistance movement, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Roy describes the Maheshwar Dam as "a strand in the skein of a mammoth global enterprise" (Roy 2001: 39) where government regulation and provision of public utilities and infrastructure are simply inconvenient barriers to trade. Roy accuses the Indian government of using its own history of corruption and inefficiency as an excuse to abdicate responsibility to private enterprise, pocketing the juicy bribes to be gleaned from such ventures along the way. In Roy's view, privatisation is an insidious means of disengaging politics from the market, disempowering the only recourse of India's poor - their vote (Roy 2001: 49-51).
Roy, an internationally acclaimed novelist, believes the role of a writer is to "worry the edges of the human imagination" (Roy 2001: 5) and speaks of the need to respect the "intricate web of morality, rigor, and responsibility that art…imposes" (ibid). Power politics is woven with reflections on the "ferocious burden" (Roy 2001: 4) of being an artist who believes that "saying nothing becomes as political an act as speaking out" (Roy 2001: 7). Her work, in both her novel The God of small things (which won the 1997 Booker prize) and her essays, is unashamedly political, the difference being simply a matter of fiction versus non-fiction. The distinction between the two has landed her with the title of "writer-activist", a label Roy rejects as "professionalizing the whole business of protest" (Roy 2001: 24) and diminishing the roles of both writers and activists. Roy sees this 'professionalization' as enabling 'experts' to appropriate the right to question and obtain information, dominate public debate and so deny ordinary citizens their voice.
The author's fame is especially relevant to the book's context and criticisms, as Roy writes as " a citizen…who is demanding public information….with no professional stakes to protect" (Roy 2001: 24-25). Roy stands accused by the Indian press and sections of the Indian establishment of grandstanding on the dams issue and using it to generate self-serving publicity (Harding 2002). While there is no doubt that Roy's reputation has generated a wide audience for this work and enabled her to "[carry] the voice of the [Narmada Bachao] Andolan to the world outside" (Roy 2001: 96), it is difficult to justify criticisms of her integrity or intent. Roy has demonstrated genuine solidarity and commitment to the cause, donating not only the royalties from Power politics to the NBA, but also a substantial portion of her Booker Prize money (Ram 2001).
When Roy criticized the 'expert' decision of India's Supreme Court to allow the Sardar Sarovar Dam to proceed, the Court condemned Roy's "objectionable writings" as being full of "vicious stultification and vulgar debunking"( Roy 2001: 97-98). This was despite verifiable evidence the project breached environmental regulations, and lacked a viable plan for resettling the estimated 400 000 people who were to lose their homes and livelihood as a consequence of its construction (Roy 2001: 19). Roy's attendance at a peaceful protest in support of the NBA outside the Court attracted a falsified charge of criminal contempt. Her affidavit against the charge, titled "On Citizens' rights to express dissent" is the third essay in the book and calls into question the accountability of the judiciary and her right to free speech. Roy's conviction for criminal contempt in early March this year has proved the Court's willingness to abuse due process to " silence criticism and muzzle dissent" (Roy 2001: 102), something she equates with "the beginning of the end of democracy" (Roy 2001: 100, Harding 2002).
Roy's "love [of] the unanswered question" (Roy 2001: 11) and usage of metaphor results in a compelling and accessible read. By not putting forward answers but exposing difficult truths and complexities -telling the "story behind the story" (Roy 2001: 46)- Roy creates a persuasive, challenging and original argument. Roy's assertions however, are supported by serious arguments and extensive research. She provides an effective counter to the pro-globalisation arguments put forward by Big Business and the state. Power politics demands engagement from the reader, and can be interpreted as a clarion call to the citizen, politician and expert alike to accept responsibility for their actions. A responsibility that is needed for the simple reason that each of us is only one human being who happens to share the planet with six billion others.
Bibliography
Harding, Luke 2002. 'The Observer Profile: Arundhati Roy'. The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers Limited, U.K., 10 March 2002.
Ram, N. 2001. Scimitars in the Sun. Frontline, Hindu Group Publications, India. 18(01) January 2001: 4-19.
Roy, Arundhati 2001. Power politics. Southend Press, Cambridge (MA).