Globalisation — Social Impacts on Indian Society

Overview

Globalisation is the progressive deepening of cross-border flows of goods, capital, technology, people, ideas, and cultural products. For India, the inflection point was the 1991 LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation) reforms launched by PM P. V. Narasimha Rao and FM Manmohan Singh in response to a balance-of-payments crisis. India's accession to the WTO on 1 January 1995, progressive FDI liberalisation through the 2000s-2010s, and the 2020s pivot to techno-globalisation (digital public goods, platform economy) have reshaped the social fabric.

Chapter 23 in this series examines the cultural effects of globalisation — McDonaldisation, glocalization, media flows, language shifts. This chapter focuses on the broader social impacts: economic inequality, the labour market, traditional livelihoods, consumerism, family structure, brain drain and diaspora, the digital divide, and the policy responses that attempt to harness globalisation while mitigating its dislocations.

The UPSC GS1 syllabus explicitly lists "Effects of globalisation on Indian society" — a high-frequency Mains theme requiring a balanced economic-sociological answer.

Dimensions of Globalisation

Globalisation operates along four interconnected axes:

Appadurai's Five Scapes

Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai (in Modernity at Large, 1996) argued that globalisation is best understood as five overlapping cultural-economic flows:

The five scapes are disjunctive — they do not move together. A village may receive Mediascape (TV, smartphones) without Technoscape (reliable electricity) or Financescape (banking access). This disjuncture is the structural source of many social tensions globalisation produces in India.

Timeline for India

Economic Inequality — The Central Social Consequence

Growth has been real, but distribution has worsened. India today is among the most unequal large economies in the world.

World Inequality Report Data

(Source: World Inequality Lab — Chancel, Piketty, Bharti, Somanchi, March 2024. "Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj".)

The authors conclude that inequality today is higher than during the British Raj — the top 1%'s share during the 1930s-1940s peaked at around 20-21%, roughly half the current level. This is the "Billionaire Raj" thesis.

Jobless Growth Debate

Post-1991 GDP growth has averaged 6-7%, but employment elasticity of growth has fallen. Key PLFS 2023-24 findings:

The rise in female LFPR is driven overwhelmingly by rural women (80% of the 98 million increase 2017-18 to 2023-24), much of it in unpaid family enterprises — raising doubts about the quality of the employment generated.

Caution for answers: Rising LFPR does not automatically mean rising welfare. Much of the increase reflects distress-driven participation, especially during COVID-induced reverse migration.

Labour Market Transformations

Informalisation

Approximately 90% of India's workforce remains in the informal sector without written contracts, social security, or collective bargaining. Even within the formal sector, contractualisation has risen sharply — regular workers are replaced by fixed-term or outsourced contract labour.

The Gig and Platform Economy

The gig economy is the sharpest new face of globalisation-driven labour change.

The Code on Social Security, 2020 for the first time statutorily defined "gig worker" and "platform worker" — a welcome recognition, though implementation of the Social Security Fund remains patchy. Karnataka (2024) and Rajasthan (2023) passed pioneering state-level platform workers' welfare legislation.

COVID Reverse Migration

The national lockdown of March 2020 triggered the largest peacetime internal migration in independent India — lakhs of circular migrant workers walked or were bussed back to villages. The event exposed the invisibility of informal migrants in India's administrative data and became a catalyst for the One Nation One Ration Card roll-out.

Skill Mismatch

India Skills Report and UNDP data flag that fewer than half of Indian graduates are "employable" in roles their degrees ostensibly qualify them for. Globalisation rewards niche, cognitive, English-language skills — leaving behind the mass-production of general-stream degree holders.

Traditional Occupations Under Pressure

Globalisation has been disproportionately hard on artisanal and hereditary occupations.

Handloom Weavers

The Fourth All India Handloom Census (2019-20) recorded only 26,73,891 weavers and 8,48,621 allied workers — sharply below earlier counts in several states. In Karnataka the official count fell to ~27,000, roughly one-third of the Third Census (2009-10). A staggering 67.1% of weavers earn under ₹5,000 per month, and the youth (18-35) share of rural weavers fell from 50% (2009-10) to 43% (2019-20).

Key stressors: competition from power-loom imitations, synthetic fabric, yarn price volatility, and weak credit access.

Fisheries

Mechanised trawlers (post-Blue Revolution and global demand for shrimp/frozen fish) have pushed artisanal catamaran and country-boat fishers into debt. Coastal ecology stress compounds the social crisis.

Traditional Retail vs E-Commerce

The FDI in multi-brand retail debate (2012 policy) crystallised anxieties about kirana dislocation. E-commerce has since bypassed the question — Amazon, Flipkart, and quick-commerce apps (Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart) capture urban retail directly. The CCI investigation into anti-competitive exclusive smartphone launches by Amazon/Flipkart is ongoing.

Agriculture

Liberalisation of agri-imports (edible oils, pulses), WTO-linked subsidy discipline, and input price globalisation (fertiliser, diesel) have squeezed small farmers. The 2020-21 farm laws agitation reflected these accumulated anxieties.

Consumerism and Changing Values

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta (in Mistaken Modernity, 2000) warned that India has adopted the consumption markers of modernity (cars, malls, gadgets) while under-investing in its structural markers (rule of law, meritocratic mobility, quality public services) — a kind of "westoxication" without westernisation's civic gains.

Family Structure Transformation

Nuclearisation

Census and NFHS data show the steady rise of the nuclear family, especially in urban India. Drivers include job-linked migration, smaller dwellings, women's workforce entry, and individualistic value-shifts.

The Elderly Care Crisis

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (assent 29 December 2007) casts a legal duty on children (and heirs, for childless seniors) to provide monthly maintenance, enforced by a district-level Tribunal. Despite the Act, elder abandonment, abuse, and loneliness are rising social concerns.

Women, Work, and the "Second Shift"

Rising female workforce participation has not been matched by redistribution of domestic labour — Indian women undertake among the highest unpaid care-work hours globally (per OECD/ILO time-use estimates). The double burden is a prime site of globalisation-era gender stress.

Changing Marriage Patterns

Rising age at marriage (NFHS-5), more inter-caste/inter-faith unions (still a small minority), and the emergence of matrimonial platforms and dating apps have reshaped pairing. Simultaneously, the same platforms reproduce caste/community filters — a clear case of glocalization.

Brain Drain and Diaspora Economics

Scale of the Diaspora

Remittances — World's Largest Recipient

Remittances consistently exceed FDI inflows and ODA combined — making the diaspora India's single largest net external source of foreign exchange.

From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation

Classical "brain drain" framing (loss of IIT/IIM talent to the US) has given way to brain circulation — Indian-origin founders return to set up GCCs (global capability centres), venture funds, and start-ups. Over 1,750 GCCs now operate in India employing over 19 lakh professionals (NASSCOM, 2024).

H-1B dynamics: India accounts for over 70% of H-1B visa approvals. US policy churn (Trump-era tightening, 2025 fee hikes) directly affects IT sector strategy, and has accelerated the nearshoring of high-end work within India itself.

Digital Divide and Inclusion

Globalisation of the internet has been profoundly uneven within India.

Layered Divides

1. Urban-rural — penetration gap is large even where connectivity exists
2. Gender — women's internet/smartphone ownership lags men's significantly, especially in rural India
3. Language — English/Hindi dominate content; speakers of many regional languages face a content desert
4. Literacy and skill — basic connectivity does not translate to meaningful digital participation (e-governance, e-commerce)

The JAM-UPI Counter-Current

The JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) and UPI have partially inverted the divide. UPI handled over 17,000 crore transactions in FY 2024-25, with rising rural adoption. Digital Public Goods — UPI, DigiLocker, CoWIN, ONDC — are now being exported (UPI in UAE, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka, Mauritius), making India a standard-setter in low-cost digital infrastructure rather than a rule-taker.

Positive Impacts — The Balance Sheet

A fair UPSC answer must acknowledge globalisation's gains:

Negative Impacts — The Costs

Policy Responses

Atmanirbhar Bharat (May 2020)

Not economic autarky but "selective globalisation" — calibrated reliance on global markets while building domestic capacity in strategic sectors.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes

Digital Public Goods Strategy

Instead of protectionism, India exports UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, Aadhaar-stack as global digital public goods — claiming standard-setting space in a domain dominated by US/Chinese private platforms.

Make in India, Skill India, Startup India

Complementary missions targeting manufacturing depth, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Success has been mixed — electronics (esp. smartphones) shows strong import-substitution-plus-export evidence; heavy manufacturing and capital goods remain import-dependent.

Social Security and Welfare

Code on Social Security 2020 (gig workers), e-Shram portal (unorganised workers registration — over 30 crore registered), PM-JAY Ayushman Bharat (health cover for bottom 40%), PM Kisan (farmer income support) — collectively a thin but broadening safety net against globalisation's volatility.

Key Terms

Beyond the Book

• Arjun Appadurai — Modernity at Large (1996): The foundational Indian text on disjunctive globalisation and the five scapes. Essential for the "cultural flows" angle.
• Dipankar Gupta — Mistaken Modernity (2000): Critiques India's adoption of consumption-markers of modernity without its structural gains — rule of law, meritocratic mobility, public goods.
• Amartya Sen & Jean Drèze — An Uncertain Glory (2013): Capability-approach critique — India's growth has under-invested in health, education, and basic capabilities, limiting the reach of globalisation's gains.
• Thomas Piketty, Lucas Chancel et al. — "Rise of the Billionaire Raj" (2024): The empirical spine for any inequality-focused answer.
• Ravi Kanbur & Lant Pritchett: Analyses of India's "jobless growth" and premature deindustrialisation.
• AnnaLee Saxenian — The New Argonauts (2006): Coined "brain circulation"; directly relevant to Indian diaspora economics.

Recent Developments (2024–2026)

Inequality Deepening Alongside Poverty Reduction — World Inequality Report 2024

India presents a structural paradox: rapid multidimensional poverty reduction (24.82 crore escaped MPI poverty 2015-21, per NITI Aayog MPI 2024) coexists with deepening wealth concentration. The Oxfam India Inequality Report 2024 found that India's top 1% now holds 40.1% of total national wealth — the highest in recent history. The World Inequality Report 2022 (Chancel et al.) had already noted India among the world's most unequal societies post-1991 liberalisation. The PLFS 2023-24 shows median rural daily wages at ₹332 vs urban ₹572 — a 72% gap. The Gig economy (estimated 7.7 million workers in 2020-21, projected 23.5 million by 2030 per NITI Aayog) has expanded employment while deepening precarity — no social security, irregular income, and algorithmic control of work. The Code on Social Security 2020 (consolidating 9 labour laws) includes provisions for gig and platform workers' welfare, but implementation rules are yet to be notified in most states as of 2025.

UPSC angle: Prelims — Oxfam India 2024: top 1% holds 40.1% wealth; NITI Aayog MPI 2024: 24.82 crore poverty reduction; NITI gig economy projection 23.5 million by 2030; Code on Social Security 2020. Mains (GS1) — inequality paradox: poverty reduction without equity improvement; gig economy as globalisation's labour market effect; social security for platform workers; digital capitalism and new forms of labour exploitation.

Globalisation's Effect on Traditional Occupations and PLI Manufacturing (2024–2025)

PLI scheme investments of ₹1.76 lakh crore (March 2025) and FDI inflows of $81 billion (FY25) represent globalisation's integration deepening. Yet for artisan and traditional occupational communities, globalisation presents a persistent threat: machine-made goods, global supply chains, and cheap imports displace handloom weavers, metalworkers, and artisans. The PM Vishwakarma Scheme (launched September 2023) addresses this directly — covering 18 traditional trades (carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, potters, cobblers, weavers), with training, credit support (₹3 lakh at 5% concessional interest), and digital marketing. By March 2025, 24.77 lakh artisans registered and 15.05 lakh trained. The scheme attempts to use digital platforms to connect traditional craftspeople with globalised markets — an example of glocalization in economic policy: using global market access to preserve local skills. However, the structural challenge remains: young people in artisan communities prefer formal employment over inheriting traditional crafts.

UPSC angle: Prelims — PM Vishwakarma: 18 trades, 24.77 lakh registered, 15.05 lakh trained; ₹3 lakh credit at 5%. Mains (GS1) — globalisation's impact on traditional occupations; artisan community survival; glocalization as policy strategy; compare with China's approach (geographic GI protection + e-commerce for handicrafts); occupational inheritance and social mobility; caste-based traditional occupations under market pressure.

Brain Drain to Brain Circulation — India's Talent Mobility Pattern (2024–2025)

India's IT diaspora — with Indian-origin professionals dominating US technology sector leadership (Sundar Pichai/Google, Satya Nadella/Microsoft, Arvind Krishna/IBM, Shantanu Narayen/Adobe) — has evolved from "brain drain" to "brain circulation": professionals moving between India and the US, contributing to both economies. India's tech talent pool (approximately 5.4 million IT professionals in FY24, NASSCOM) is now being partially retained through: (i) startup ecosystem expansion (5th largest globally; 116 unicorns as of 2024); (ii) semiconductor and electronics PLI incentives attracting reverse investment; (iii) "return migration" of NRIs and PIOs increasing (MEA data shows 6 lakh new OCI registrations in 2024). However, the H-1B visa dependency — Indians constitute ~75% of approved H-1B petitions — remains a structural vulnerability, exposed by the January 2025 US administration's H-1B policy review. India's remittances from the US ($36+ billion) are partly the social cost of this talent export.

UPSC angle: Prelims — India IT professionals 5.4 million (NASSCOM FY24); H-1B Indians ~75%; startups 116 unicorns 2024; OCI 6 lakh new registrations 2024. Mains (GS1) — brain drain vs brain circulation concept; diaspora as development resource; reverse migration and Atmanirbhar technology economy; H-1B policy vulnerability; social cost of talent migration (families, communities left behind).

Exam Strategy

Mains Question Templates

• "Critically analyse the effects of globalisation on Indian society."
• "Globalisation has produced both unprecedented opportunity and deepening inequality in India. Examine."
• "Discuss the impact of globalisation on traditional livelihoods in India. How has the state responded?"
• "The Indian diaspora is a strategic asset. Discuss with reference to remittances and brain circulation."
• "Examine the social consequences of the rise of the platform/gig economy in India."

Answer Architecture

1. Define globalisation briefly using Appadurai's scapes — shows conceptual depth beyond a purely economic definition
2. Cite 2-3 current data points — remittances (USD 129 bn), top 1% wealth (40.1%), PLI (₹1.97 lakh crore), diaspora (35.42 million)
3. Balance positives and negatives — poverty reduction + rising inequality; middle-class expansion + jobless growth
4. Use sociologists — Gupta, Appadurai, Giddens (reflexive modernity), Drèze-Sen (capabilities)
5. Close with policy — Atmanirbhar Bharat, PLI, Digital Public Goods, Code on Social Security — shows the state is not passive
6. Link to UPSC values — inclusive growth, equity, federal-cooperative implementation

Common Pitfalls

• Treating globalisation as only economic — examiners reward the cultural, political, technological dimensions
• Stale data — use PLFS 2023-24, World Inequality Report 2024, MEA 2024/25, TRAI 2024
• One-sided answers — either celebrating growth or denouncing inequality; a top answer holds both truths
• Missing the Indian state's agency — globalisation in India has been shaped, not suffered, especially post-2014 with Digital Public Goods