Globalisation and the Challenge of Securing Sustainable Livelihoods

Introduction
Analysing Globalisation
Understanding Sustainable Livelihoods
Challenge of Securing Sustainable Livelihoods
Ensuring Food Security
Conclusion

Introduction:

The blog examines the main arguments against globalization and focuses on how these processes have made it harder for marginalized people to support themselves. It is important to see globalization as a phenomenon that aims to integrate people into the global scale inequitably. It is essential to realize that the market now has "ideological legitimacy" in a way that challenges the idea that the state provides for the security of the poor's livelihoods as a result of the "conceptualisation of development and welfarerism" within globalization (John 2005). Understanding the mechanisms by which the notion and practices of globalization have posed a threat to the security of the livelihoods of the marginalized is crucial in this context. According to Sassen (2007), it's crucial to understand that there are two crucial dynamics at play with globalization. According to Sassen, "one involves the formation of explicitly global institutions and processes, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), global financial markets, the new cosmopolitanism, etc. Dot the practices and organizational forms through which such dynamics operate constitute what is typically thought of as global.". Processes that take place deep inside of territories are included in the second group of dynamics. constructed in terms of the country. despite being localized in national. Since they involve transnational networks, these are a part of globalization (pgs. 5–6). Giddens (1999: 12) asserts that it is incorrect to think of globalization as only affecting large systems like the global financial order. Globalization is not about things that are "out there," far from where an individual is located. It also affects private and intimate aspects of our lives; it is an "in here" phenomenon. In light of this, it is clear that macro policies have an impact on people's daily lives and that these people are entangled in broader social, economic, and political developments. One such component is "sustainable livelihoods.".

Analysing Globalisation

The relationship between the local and the global must be discussed in the context of globalization. According to Giddens (1999), the processes that make up globalization are intricate and operate in conflicting ways on the political, technological, cultural, and economic levels. According to Subramaniam (2006), globalization must be seen as a phenomenon involving the "local" and the "global" at opposite ends of the spectrum. Additionally, it entails a strengthening of institutions and social ties across both space and time. Globalization is defined by Anthony Giddens in his ground-breaking book, "The Consequences of Modernity" (1990:64), as "the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.". Comparatively, Held et al. The term "globalization" was first used by in 1999 and was defined as "the widening, deepening and speeding up of the worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual.".

Pieterse (2006:84) argues that it's critical to comprehend the nature of globalization and asks what exactly this globalization is made up of. He contends that rather than "globalization" itself, the issue is "neoliberal globalization.". Pieterse claims that "contemporary globalization can be described as a package deal that includes informatisation (applications of information technology), flexibilisation (destandardisation in the organisation of production and labour) and various changes such as regionalisation and the reconfiguration of states. In addition to the lean government ideology, financialization and securitization (the conversion of tradable assets into tradable financial instruments), deregularization (liberalization and privatization), and the globalization package, neoliberal policies have been having an increasing negative impact since the 1980s. It is crucial to comprehend how unique and difficult this stage of globalization is to manage. Why? Because it functions within paradoxical constraints.

According to Pieterse (2004), policies during the neoliberal globalization are paradoxical, or "policy incoherence," meaning that institutions matter but government is being rolled back, capacity building is crucial but existing public capacities are being defunded, accountability is crucial but privatization eliminates accountability, and the goal is "building democracy by strengthening civil society, but NGOs are professionalized and depoliticized.". Thus, under neoliberal regimes, the market colonizes areas like education, welfare, health care, and housing (Connel 2010). The emphasis on "flexibility" in the labor market results in an increase in the number of part-time, casual, and contractual workers (Connel 2010), and development policy is seen as failing because it is a regime of "financial discipline" (Pieterse 2004).

This is so that profits can be maximized, which has always been a goal of capitalism in any form. According to Eisenstein (2009), capitalism has always utilized the reproductive and productive labor of women. In the current stage of globalization, women's political and ideological labor is also exploited by the system by taking advantage of feminism's ideals, in addition to their productive and reproductive labor. In the era of globalized economies, where a race to the bottom is crucial for super profits, it is primarily the labor force of the "Global South," specifically women. The women's labor is the cheapest of all, allowing and ensuring maximum profitability for the corporate elite, a tiny minority of the world's population (2004: 16–17). Utilizing the labor of women is one of the policies supporting this globalization era. In order to take advantage of the cheaper labor force, particularly made up of women, slaving away in the factories in the specialized export processing zones under incredibly demanding working conditions, industrial corporate giants employed the strategy of placing "manufacturing and assembling" for aspects of their products such as footwear, textile, electronics, toys, and apparel in the former colonies. In light of this, Auguilar and Lacsamana (2004) contend that state-led development policy has become impossible and difficult since the 1980s due to the growth and legitimization of the neoliberal, "free market" regime by the international financial institutions. Thus, according to Chaudhuri (2004), "labor re-organization" has been a significant aspect of the globalization process.

Many academics, including John (2004), Chaudhuri (2004), and Subramaniam (2006), contend that globalization has influenced the restructuring of the state's interventions. Instead of "erosion" of state authority, there is a rethinking of the state's approach to redefining the relationship between the state (including political parties), women's organizations, NGOs, and the local community. According to John (2005), the process of globalization has caused a "shift in signification," wherein focusing on the variety of tasks that women in poverty perform and provide greater contributions to the family despite lower wages, so now the arguments have changed from arguments of "exploitation" to "proofs of efficiency," wherein women's ability to stretch scarce resources under deteriorating conditions is perceived as "women power.". Thus, if poverty cannot be completely eliminated, it may be better endured through effective management, and poor women are portrayed as more promising managers of poverty than men (John 2005: 248-249).

According to Chadhuri (2004), the difficulty with the globalization process is that it has changed the meanings and connotations of words like "development," "welfare," "equality," and "empowerment," and one can see a selective appropriation of feminist findings integration into "mainstream development models" for women. In a similar vein, John (2005) asserts that the state, international organizations, and new economic policies view "women" as "good subjects," with qualities like "hard workers, efficient, thrifty women," and excellent economic sense. In addition, it is the NGOs and INGOs that work with the government to facilitate and carry out the development programs through public-private partnerships. Thus, it would be misleading to discuss the globalization process in India without putting the experiences of marginalized poor women—generally those from Scheduled Castes, Dalits, and Scheduled Tribes—at the center. "A theory of gender, in the times of globalization- has to content with old questions of the "invisibility" of gender and new questions of the "hypervisibility" of the market, and of questions of conceptualizing differences among women," writes Rege (2003:4555). We must recognize that globalization is changing the way people live their lives. The process has an impact on daily life in the same way that it has an impact on global events (Giddens 1999: 4). Livelihoods becoming unstable is one of the effects of globalization. We must first engage with the idea of sustainable livelihoods in order to comprehend the processes that make livelihoods precarious.

Challenge of Securing Sustainable Livelihoods

In order to secure their livelihoods in this incredibly uncertain globalized world, the marginalized section will be discussed in this section's processes, strategies, and negotiations. The moduel makes the case that it is getting harder to sustain sustainable livelihoods by using the example of the country's scheduled tribe population, especially those whose way of life depends on produce from the forest. The transformation of the "hill forest economy," according to Nathan (2009), has been one of the pillars of economic growth. Minerals and water from the forest are used for a variety of development purposes, including increased access to power, irrigation water to boost agricultural productivity, and the expansion of the industrial base. The main issue is that the schedule tribes, whose way of life was in jeopardy, are not receiving the benefits; rather, they are being enjoyed by workers and people who live in the plains. According to Nathan (2009), irrigation policies like building dams and mining programs resulted in the involuntary displacement of the scheduled tribes' inhabitants of the hill regions and the destruction of their traditional means of subsistence. The marginalized population pays a high price for the government's development policies. By the time it reaches the disinclined people, the compensation plan based on the land's value is less valuable. The compensation for lost income is insufficient.

India Pathy (2003) asserts that tribes in the state of Odisha live precarious lives influenced by ongoing debt, bonded labor, poverty, and malnutrition in a similar analysis of their social and economic circumstances. Pathy claims that the Orissa Tribal Development Project, an ambitious and significant project jointly operationalized by the Government of India and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), aimed at ecological rejuvenation of the project area; whose primary objective was to achieve sustainable economic upliftment of tribal population.

According to Pathy (2003), the project's design was based on a top-down methodology that ignored the regional circumstances, traditional ethos, economic, and ecological contexts, and as a result, it left no room for the "voice" of the tribes. According to Pathy, "the project invested in agricultural production, natural resource development, human resource development, rural infrastructure development, commercial development, and land survey and implementation of management support.". Because the target group (tribal people) lacked literacy and relied on primitive subsistence practices like shifting cultivation, the appraisal mission placed special emphasis on developing their human resources (pp. 2834). Such an approach, according to Pathy, has flaws because it fails to take into account how closely related the agricultural practices of the tribes are to the land's structure, soil composition, and ownership. It is also due to the fact that "low land/plains is not only less but also owned by non-tribal population" that the tribes are forced to practice their agriculture on hill slopes. Therefore, the tribes' customs were based on the resources they had access to.

Such insights, according to Pathy, are not addressed in the mission plan, and as a result, no matter what programs are implemented, they do not aid in the development of the people in the area, contributing to their current state of destitution in their own community due to the deprivation of their fundamental rights over their modes of subsistence. Additionally, no significant intervention in terms of an increase in income and sustainable agricultural productivity has been made due to the presence of a number of contractors and suppliers (particularly non-tribal). Pathy continues to make the case that even "the rich forest wealth is exchanged more often to the non-tribal usury-trading class at the lowest level, thereby depriving the people of their rights over their livelihoods. In addition, people are forced to sell a portion of their land to non-tribal groups, which increases their vulnerability.

Ensuring Food Security

The security of one's food supply is crucial to livelihood security. At its core, food security is a matter of ensuring that all people have access to food at all times. As a result, it goes far beyond food production, availability, and demand. Therefore, availability, accessibility, and affordability are three interrelated factors that affect food security. While accessibility is related to Amartya Sen's concept of endowments and "exchange entitlements," which are the resources at one's disposal that determine one's capacity to buy food, availability and affordability are related to the production and distribution processes (Krishnaraj 2005). Understanding how macropolicies have significantly impacted agricultural production and productivity is crucial. For instance, the average land holding size in India is about 0 hectares (the majority of holdings are small and marginal farmers), so finding solutions to increase productivity is difficult. The presence of contract farming, which places a focus on cash crops based on crops with a market orientation, also poses significant risks to household food security. Accordingly, Krishnaraj (2005) contends that the challenge in these unsettling times is to use creative solutions for agriculture, ensuring the livelihoods of low-income women, and ensuring food security without investing all of its resources in "monoculture baskets". Kanan and others. According to, (2000), the three main causes of concern for food security are an increase in food prices, a decrease in the area covered by food grains, and an increase in food subsidies.

It is important to acknowledge that structural changes in the world grain market pose a threat to India's food security. What role does the global market play in defining India's food security? According to some, one of the main causes is the rise in grain prices, which pose a serious threat to India's ability to feed its population. Both supply and demand issues are to blame for the rising prices. Demand factors include the conversion of grains and other agricultural products into biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, as well as the shift in dietary preferences toward livestock and high-value agricultural products. Regarding the supply, the cost of producing agricultural products has significantly increased due to the rising cost of crude oil and the stagnant global production of cereals in contrast to the growing population. Therefore, any increase in global prices poses a significant threat to India's ability to feed its people. It is critical to acknowledge that India's food production has lagged behind population and demand growth. Ecological stress, the diversification of land used for food grains into non-agricultural uses, and a shift to more lucrative cash crops are some of the causes (Editorial, EPW 2008). Additionally, a lack of funding for infrastructure, irrigation, and irrigation systems has led to a decrease in crop yield across the globe in many areas. Water availability has also become more scarce. More extreme rainfall between extended dry spells, along with decreased irrigation water resources, have contributed to further climate change in developing nations (especially those that are warmer or tropical), which has resulted in pests, disease, soil erosion, and desertification (Rosegrant and Cline 2003).

Kannan et al. describe the state of food security in India. , (2000) contend that India's food security is precarious and that the country's current production of food grains may not be enough to meet future demand. According to Swaminathan (1996), there are four main ways that the government intervenes in the Indian food grain market to guarantee a minimum level of food security. It contains:.

1. System of procurement of food grain and of support prices for major food grains and selected commodities.
2. State manages food stock through food storage and buffer stock operations.
3. State guided system of delivery of cheap food through Public Distribution System (PDS)
4. Government intervenes in trade, where it sets up legal controls on hoarding and other aspects of internal trade and restrictions on external trade.

It is critical to understand how India's ongoing economic reforms relate to the country's growing food insecurity in this context. According to Patnaik (2005), the government's deflationary reforms have raised awareness of the issues of poverty and food security. A sharp reduction in public planned development expenditure in rural areas, particularly in agriculture, rural development, irrigation, and flood control, is what Patnaik defines as deflationary macroeconomic policies1 that were initiated by India. These regulations are predicated on the notion that "public investment crowds out private investment.". Patnaik is of the opinion that this frequently used justification for reducing the government's involvement in rural development in India is valid. Such policy decisions have the following negative effects: sluggish output growth, rising unemployment, unprecedented income deflation for the majority of farmers and laborers, cultivators becoming enmeshed in unmanageable debt, and loss of assets, including land, to "creditors.". Further, it causes farmer suicides, a decrease in the absorption of food grains, and a decrease in the typical calorie intake in rural areas. Particularly, Patnaik contends that such policies are detrimental to nations like India, whose agriculture is dependent on irrigation and thus necessitates high levels of public investment. It is her opinion that "infrastructure, investment such as rural power projects, roads, bridges, school buildings, clinics, and so on, are never undertaken by private investors but are vital for stimulating development and promoting livelihoods" (Patnaik 2005:54–55). Therefore, it is crucial that the government make enough public investments in agriculture.

Regarding the situation with regard to food security, Patnaik claims that there is a serious and pervasive food crisis in India that has been brought on by deflationary public policies combined with trade liberalization at a time when global primary prices are falling. She claims that "food grain absorption in India has reached a historic low due to the massive decline in purchasing power, especially in villages, as a result of a combination of rising unemployment, rising input and credit costs for the farmers, and exposure to the global price declines.". Loss of purchasing power is widespread, and restricting food subsidies to those who are formally classified as "Below Poverty Line" (BPL) has added to the institutional denial of affordable food grains to the poor, not just because of errors in exclusion and the blatant undercount of those living in poverty (2005:61). According to Patnaik, it was a risky policy to fully liberalize trade and open the Indian agricultural sector to the global market. It is claimed that historically, the expansion of exports from tropical agriculture under free trade regimes has always resulted in a decline in domestic food grain production and availability, driving the majority of the population into worsening undernourishment and, in the worst cases, famine.

The PDS is a program to ensure food for the poor, as was mentioned above. What does the change in the policy based on free market principles mean for food security in India? Unfortunately, this scheme is run ineffectively, expensively, and with numerous leaks. As a result, PDS is unable to guarantee the delivery of food to the households and socioeconomically vulnerable groups. The universal nature of PDS was altered as a result of economic reforms to make it "targeted," ensuring that the "identified poor" could access it. The updated PDS was created with the intention of enhancing access for low-income households and increasing coverage through strategic targeting. Therefore, PDS was intended for people who lived in desert, tribal, hilly, and urban slum areas that were experiencing drought. On the other hand, . Swaminathan (1996) argues that it is important to acknowledge that there is a compelling case for a PDS that is universal or nearly universal in order to ensure food security. Among the causes are:.

1. In a country like India defined by high levels of poverty, a large number of population would be vulnerable to fluctuations in the market, a common factor within open market systems.
2. It is important to understand that the administrative costs of excluding the top 10 to 20 percent is high and there is great possibility that better off households select themselves out.
3. The welfare cost of excluding the poor are more serious than the costs of including the non-poor.
4. Lastly the Indian state of Kerala, with the most effective PDS system is universal in nature, with poor households depending in it than the others.

According to research done in the state of Maharashtra, Swaminathan (1996) asserts that the revamped PDS's unfortunate major failing was reduced entitlements and higher prices, which caused the commodities sold by these outlets to drop sharply. As a result, the current system for distributing subsidised food has significant gaps, and many people with low incomes are left out of the PDS. The PDS and post-1991 consumer food subsidies have been criticized. But if PDS is to guarantee basic food security to the vast majority of Indians, it must be genuinely reform.

Taking care of the ingrained gender issues is another essential component of ensuring food security. Food and livelihood security cannot be "engendered" without taking structural issues in development into account, according to Krishna (1996, 2004, and 2005). Additionally, in the age of globalization, the "green revolution" approach cannot be applied to the current farming systems without taking into account the social and ecological concerns that already exist locally and regionally. The distribution of resources within a household is influenced by factors that are specific to that household, according to gender scholars who have long held this position. Women work in the home with fewer rights, more work responsibility, and greater contributions to the household economy and food security, but this does not guarantee their own personal access to food and nutrition. As a result, Choudhary and Parthasarathy (2007) assert that it's crucial to acknowledge that household security does not necessarily guarantee the security of individuals, particularly women and children (and particularly girl children).

Sen (1990) and Agarwal (1996) contend that this is due to women's weak bargaining and protection mechanisms as well as the fact that the majority of the work they do is by definition unpaid, unwelcome, and invisible. Choudhary and Parthasarathy (2007) contend that despite the fact that women contribute to food security through food production, food accessibility, and food consumption, they do not have a right to food security. Women are the "pivots of household security," they claim. When value is calculated at the female wage rate, women generally provide more than 70% of the food needs for their families. According to Choudhary and Parthasarathy (2007:531), they are essential to the availability, accessibility, utilisation, and stability of access pillars of food security. The central role that women play in preserving and stabilizing household food security makes it imperative that policy interventions focus on women. Rosegrant and Cline (2003) make the case that policy and investment reforms are necessary on a number of fronts, including human resources, agricultural research, rural infrastructure, water resources, and farm and community-based agricultural and natural resource management. It believes that such a policy will undoubtedly boost agricultural production, raise incomes, and reduce poverty in rural areas.

Kanan and others in the Indian context. In order to increase the supply of food grains and ensure the sustainability of an effective agricultural system, it is necessary to increase public investment in research and development, according to. In the age of globalization, it is crucial to address the decline in public investment in agriculture brought on by deflationary macroeconomic policies. Additionally, the increasing degradation of land and water resources may make it necessary to use more expensive inputs to maintain food production, which poses a risk to food security. So, Kannan et al. According to, (2000), developing technologies to increase dryland agriculture productivity is necessary if one is to ensure the nation's food security. This requires a robust research and development program.

Conclusion

The blog's initial explanation focused on how the globalization process unfairly affects citizens all over the world. They are exposed to seek out marginal and unstable livelihoods and made vulnerable to changes in the open market due to their limited options for backup. The module continued by examining the idea of livelihoods and making an effort to comprehend the various complex aspects of sustainable livelihoods. The module looked at how difficult it is for the poor and marginalized to secure their livelihoods after defining sustainable livelihoods. Especially in a market that is fiercely competitive and focused on maximizing profits, securing and maintaining sustainable livelihoods. The final section of the module emphasizes how intricately the nation's food security is connected to the global market, making it extremely vulnerable. Additionally, it is discussed and explained how deflationary macroeconomic policies make securing food security a herculean task. The module also draws our attention to the nuanced ways that food security must be viewed, examined, and comprehended from a gender perspective.