Youth Culture and Globalisation
Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions from
Another key issue regarding globalisation and labour is the relationship between employment and globalisation. Here too we see the uneven impact of globalisation. For the middle class youth from urban centres, globalisation and the IT revolution has opened up new career opportunities. Instead of routinely picking up B.Sc./ B.A./B.Com. degree from colleges, many young persons are learning computer languages at computer institutes, taking up jobs at call centers or Business Process Outsourcing BPO companies, working as sales persons in shopping malls or picking up jobs at the various restaurants that have opened up. In many ways it was a major political change, namely, the collapse of the erstwhile socialist world that hastened globalisation. And also gave a specific economic and political approach to the economic policies that underpin globalisation. These changes are often termed as neo-liberal economic measures. We have already seen what concrete steps the liberalisation policy took in India. Broadly these policies reflect a political vision of free enterprise which believes that a free reign to market forces will be both efficient and fair. It is, therefore, critical of both state regulation and state subsidies. The existing process of globalisation in this sense does have a political vision as much as an economic vision. However, the possibilities that there can be a globalisation which is different do exist. We, thus have the concept of an inclusive globalisation, that is one, which includes all the sections of society. Another significant political development which is accompanying globalisation is the growth of international and regional mechanisms for political collaboration. The European Union EU, the Association of South East Asian Nations ASEAN, South Asian Association for Regional Corporation SAARC are just some of the examples that indicate the greater role of regional associations.
Which of the following is a negative effect of neo-liberal policies?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Traditional weavers lost their livelihood because of powerlooms.
Option (1) Government invested more in education and skill development. — Incorrect. More public spending is a positive step, and it is not what neo-liberal policies favour. The passage says these policies give a free reign to market forces and are critical of both state regulation and state subsidies, so they want a smaller role for the state, not a larger one.
Option (2) Traditional weavers lost their livelihood because of powerlooms. — Correct. Neo-liberal economic measures open every trade to market competition. Those who can invest and adapt gain; those who cannot are pushed out. Traditional weavers with no means to invest in technology could not adapt to changing consumer tastes and to competition from power looms, and lost their livelihood. That is a negative effect.
Option (3) Youths getting jobs in BPOs and shopping malls. — Incorrect. The passage gives this as a new career opportunity for middle-class youth in the cities, a benefit of globalisation, not a harm.
Option (4) Caste lost its relevance in urban areas. — Incorrect. This is not an effect of neo-liberal policies, and it is not a harm either. Caste has weakened in some urban settings for many reasons, but it has not lost its relevance.
Note: The passage of Q41-Q45 is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Globalisation and Social Change’: NTA joined two paragraphs of the book, ‘Globalisation and Employment’ and ‘Globalisation and Political Changes’. Read the chapter fully, boxes included; a student who has read these two pages walks into these five questions already knowing the answers.
NCERT (2025-26): “Globalisation and Political Changes … In many ways it was a major political change, namely, the collapse of the erstwhile socialist world that hastened globalisation. And also gave a specific economic and political approach to the economic policies that underpin globalisation. These changes are often termed as neo-liberal economic measures. We have already seen what concrete steps the liberalisation policy took in India. Broadly these policies reflect a political vision of free enterprise which believes that a free reign to market forces will be both efficient and fair. It is, therefore, critical of both state regulation and state subsidies.… Threat to many Indigenous Craft and Literary Traditions and Knowledge Systems … It is, however, important to remember that modern development even prior to the stage of globalisation did make inroads into traditional cultural forms and occupations based on them. But the sheer scale and intensity of change is enormous. For instance about 30 theatre groups, which were active around the textile mills area of Parel and Girgaum of Mumbai city, have become defunct, as most of the mill workers are out of jobs in these areas. Some years back, there were reports of large number of suicides by the traditional weavers in Sircilla village of Karimnagar district and in Dubakka village in Medak district, both in Andhra Pradesh. These weavers with no means to invest in technology were unable to adapt to the changing consumer tastes and competition from power looms.…” |