REIN Reading Circle

REIN Reading Circle

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REIN Reading Circle episodes

  • Session 17: Economics of Education II

    We will be reading:


    Aiyar, Y. (2019). Schooling is not Learning. Centre for Policy Research.

    Priya, L. (2020). How Does the National Education Policy Accelerate the Privatisation. Economic and Political Weekly.

    1 hr 29 min
  • Session 17: Economics of Education II

    We will be reading:


    Aiyar, Y. (2019). Schooling is not Learning. Centre for Policy Research.

    Priya, L. (2020). How Does the National Education Policy Accelerate the Privatisation. Economic and Political Weekly.

    1 hr 39 min
  • Session 16: Economics of Education I

    Our goal for the first session is twofold: First, we aim to understand the origin and historical use of the theory of public goods argument that's frequently deployed in debates on the provisioning of education. Second, we aim to critically evaluate the claims the public goods argument makes in order to identify its limitations when informing education policy.

    We will be reading: 

    1. Daviet, B. (2016) Revisiting the Principle of Education as a Public Good. Education Research and Foresight Series, No. 17. Paris: UNESCO.
    2. Williams, G. (2016) 'Higher education: Public good or private commodity?' London Review of Education, 14 (1), 131–42.
      3. 1 hr 26 min
    3. Session 15: History of Economic Thought II

      Session 15 of REIN Reading Circle.

      Topic of discussion

      We will discuss the idea of 'Indian Economics' that emerged during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. Scholars tried bringing in historical particularities and nationalism to their study of the Indian economy, set against the background of the emergent nationalist movement. Through this we will look at questions of development, education and pedagogy, and what are the implications of placing the nation as a central category of analysis in economic thought.

      Essential reading


      Ranade, Mahadev Govind. 1906. Chapter 1: "Indian Political Economy", in Essays on Indian Economics: Collection of Essays and Speeches. Madras: G.A. Nateson and Co. [the primary text which inspired a generation of economists to work upon a conception of Indian Economics, aspiring to induct history and the national interest in their economic writings.]


      Goswami, Manu. 2004. Chapter 7: "Political Economy of Nationhood", in Producing India: From Colonial Economy to National Space. Oxford: Permanent Black, pp.209-241.

      Suggested reading (Optional)


      Goswami, Manu. 2004. Chapter 8: "Territorial Nativism: Swadeshi and Swaraj", in Producing India: From Colonial Economy to National Space. Oxford: Permanent Black, pp.242-276.
      [this chapter looks at the early-twentieth century swadeshi movement and its quest to create an organic national community and national economy. It links up closely with the creation of a homogenous and singular national identity]


      Karak, Anirban. 2020. "What was 'Indian' Political Economy? On the separation of the 'social, the 'economic', and the 'ethical' in Indian nationalist thought, 1892-1948", Modern Asian Studies.


      Ambirajan, S. 1978. "Introduction", in Classical Political Economy and British Policy in India. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. [shows the importance of political economy to the administration of British India and sets a background to the importance of studying the history of political economy in a colonial context]

      1 hr 39 min
    4. Session 14: History of Economic Thought I

      Session 14 of REIN Reading Circle.

      The readings we will be discussing:

      1. Lecture One - On the Great Divide in Economic Theory by Krishna Bharadwaj
        2. Krishna Bharadwaj.pdf
      2. Aspromourgos, T. (2017, July 6). Why History of Economics? Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10370196.2017.1339580?journalCode=rher20
      3. Thomas, A. M. (2020, November 7). A History of Contemporary Economic Theories. Economic and Political Weekly. https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/45/book-reviews/history-contemporary-economic-theories.html


        4. 1 hr 21 min
      4. Session 13: Informal Labour & Future of Work II

        Session 13 of REIN Reading Circle.

        Readings: Arguments for gig economy

        1. Thornton, M. (2020, February 19). Legislation Should Help Rather Than Hinder the Gig Economy. Mises Institute. https://mises.org/power-market/legislation-should-help-rather-hinder-gig-economy
        2. Schwellnus, C., Geva, A., Pak, M., & Veiel, R. (2019). GIG ECONOMY PLATFORMS: BOON OR BANE? OECD. https://fairgig.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ECO-WKP201919.pdf

          3. Arguments against gig economy

          1. Lawrence, M. (2020, December 2). Common Wealth: To #MakeAmazonPay, Reimagine the Platform Economy. Progressive International. https://progressive.international/wire/2020-12-02-common-wealth-to-makeamazonpay-reimagine-the-platform-economy/en/
          2. Zarkadakis, G. (2021, May 14). Do platforms work? Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/workers-of-the-world-unite-on-distributed-digital-platforms
            3. 1 hr 23 min
          3. Session 12: Informal Labour & Future of Work I

            Session 12 of REIN Reading Circle.

            The readings we will be discussing:


            1. Singh, Jaivir. “Who Is a Worker?” Labour, Employment and Economic Growth in India, edited by K. V. Ramaswamy, 2015, pp. 265–91. Crossref, doi:10.1017/cbo9781316156476.011. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316156476.011
            2. Basole, Amit, et al. “The Time Is Right for an Urban Employment Guarantee Programme.” The India Forum, 30 Nov. 2020, www.theindiaforum.in/article/time-right-urban-employment-guarantee-programme.
            3. Mohanty, Manoranjan. “Chapter 2 - Migrant Labour on Centre Stage: But Politics Fails Them.” Migration, Workers, and Fundamental Freedoms: Pandemic Vulnerabilities and States of Exception in India, 1st ed., Routledge India, 2021, pp. 9–23. https://www.routledge.com/Migration-Workers-and-Fundamental-Freedoms-Pandemic-Vulnerabilities-and/Hans-Kannabiran-Mohanty-Pushpendra/p/book/9780367641559


              4. 1 hr 26 min
            4. Session 11: Economics of Social Justice II

              Session 11 of REIN Reading Circle.

              The readings we will be discussing:

              1. Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice.
              2. Chapter 1: The Economics of Caste from The Grammar of Caste: Economic Discrimination in Contemporary India.
              3. The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t been a “great equaliser” for India’s queer population.
                4. 1 hr 23 min
              4. Session 10: Economics of Social Justice I

                Session 10 of REIN Reading Circle.

                The readings we will be discussing:

                1. Ambedkar: Economics crucial for social justice https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/comment/ambedkar-economics-crucial-for-social-justice-442714
                2. Caste and Economic Discrimination: Causes, Consequences and Remedies by Sukhadeo Thorat, Katherine S Newman https://www.im4change.org/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Caste_and_Economic_Discrimination_Causes_Consequences_and_Remedies_1.pdf
                3. The caste aways https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/64EeWQ7wsyf56vQrNIK9TN/The-caste-aways.html
                4. Optional Reading: The Doctor and the Saint by Arundhati Roy
                  5. 1 hr 26 min

                About REIN Reading Circle

                From the publisher's feed

                The Reading Circle of Rethinking Economics India Network discussing ideas from Pluralist and Heterodox Economics.