University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Geography Geography 2013 NEOLIBERALIZING THE STREETS OF URBAN INDIA: ENGAGEMENTS OF A FREE MARKET THINK TANK IN THE POLITICS OF STREET HAWKING Priyanka Jain University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Jain, Priyanka, "NEOLIBERALIZING THE STREETS OF URBAN INDIA: ENGAGEMENTS OF A FREE MARKET THINK TANK IN THE POLITICS OF STREET HAWKING" (2013). Theses and Dissertations--Geography. 14. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/geography_etds/14 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Geography by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. 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Priyanka Jain, Student Dr. Anna Secor, Major Professor Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp, Director of Graduate Studies NEOLIBERALIZING THE STREETS OF URBAN INDIA: ENGAGEMENTS OF A FREE MARKET THINK TANK IN THE POLITICS OF STREET HAWKING DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Priyanka Jain Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Anna Secor, Professor of Geography Lexington, Kentucky 2013 Copyright © Priyanka Jain 2013 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION NEOLIBERALIZING THE STREETS OF URBAN INDIA: ENGAGEMENTS OF A FREE MARKET THINK TANK IN THE POLITICS OF STREET HAWKING This dissertation looks into the processes by which neoliberalism is mutating with various local and global discourses in order to transform urban space for marginalized street hawkers in the Global South, specifically Delhi, India. Following the current engagements in geographic literature on neoliberalism that focus on the contextually embedded character and the path-dependent process of the spread of free market ideas, I make free market advocacy think tanks--a rather unknown and under-investigated accomplice to this process--my main entry point. Corporate funded think tanks are often found advocating a neoliberal doctrine of free markets, minimal government intervention, and privatization. A self-professed civil society organization, the Center for Civil Society (CCS) in Delhi is one of the first neoliberal, national and foreign corporation funded, advocacy think tanks in India and one of its many agendas is to counter the popular belief that neoliberalism is harmful for the urban poor such as street hawkers. Various NGOs, social workers, scholars, academicians, and think tanks including CCS came together to form the National Policy of Street Vendors, 2009 (NPSV), one of the first policy proposals in modern India to tackle the problems of urban spaces of street vending. Through my investigations I wish to highlight the neoliberal attitudes that are concealed in this policy regarding street hawkers. By bringing these neoliberal undertones to the forefront, this dissertation discusses how this so called “pro-hawking” policy that is being pushed to be implemented in the majority of Indian cities is in fact hostile to hawkers. I demonstrate this fact by explaining that NPSV and its proponents view space as a capitalist commodity and are attempting to transform the rich social spaces of Indian city streets into hollow container spaces of capitalist production and consumption. In this way, this dissertation connects macro spaces of governance such as city streets to the micro spaces of governmentality such as think tanks like CCS. KEYWORDS: Street Hawkers, Think Tank, Neoliberalism, Civil Society, India __Priyanka Jain________ Student’s Signature __September 30th, 2013__ Date NEOLIBERALIZING THE STREETS OF URBAN INDIA: ENGAGEMENTS OF A FREE MARKET THINK TANK IN THE POLITICS OF STREET HAWKING By Priyanka Jain Dr. Anna Secor Director of Dissertation Dr. Patricia Ehrkamp Director of Graduate Studies 30th Sept 2013 Dedicated to my family, the residents of Prem Nivas. ACKNOWLEDMENTS Writing a dissertation in Social Theory is an exceptionally rewarding, yet extremely excruciating exercise. Someone dear (Dr Kathleen O’Reilly) once told me it’s the toughest thing I would ever have to do. After spending 6 years on this project, I could not agree more. I owe my thanks to many people who made this process not just bearable and doable, but also immensely exciting. First, I want to thank my school by restating the general consensus: the Geography Department at the University of Kentucky (UK) is indeed the best school of geography in the world. I am extremely fortunate to have been part of this radical, intellectual community. From stimulating seminar discussions to drunken philosophical conversations at The World Famous Two Keys Tavern happy hours, UK Geography is a unique graduate environment; a rich breeding ground for maturing ideas and critical reasoning. I thank this family of professors and students for turning this naïve student from Delhi into a cognizant individual and, more importantly, a compassionate human being. Three people were instrumental in making my education at UK possible; thanks to Dr PP Karan, Professor M. P. Thackore, and my Uncle Rajiv Jain. Special credit also goes to my dear friends from Delhi School of Economic -Sakshi, Karnua, Surbhi, Rizwan and Adorin for supporting me through the application process to UK back in 2002. I thank my advisor Anna Secor for being simply brilliant; a true role model. I’ve been humbled again and again by her patience, kindness and constructive advice. She’s eased the anxiety of graduate school. Her expectations and high standards were essential in sustaining my enthusiasm. She inspired me to learn more during the most tiresome patches of dissertation writing. I also feel privileged to have a highly distinguished committee: Dr. Tad Mutersbaugh, Dr. Srimati Basu, and Dr. Andrew Wood. Despite being incredibly busy, all of them made themselves available when I needed their guidance. The graduate students at UK adopted and nurtured me from day one. Chris Blackden helped frame the project and move it forward when I was stuck in 2008-09. His dazzling intellect and dear friendship has always been a mere phone call away. Thanks to Taro Futamura for making 4 am trips… on multiple nights… every week… for 2 years… to drop me home from a long day at school. His friendship and exuberant optimism were indispensable and sustaining. Vanessa Hudson, Ben Smith, Kathleen O’Reilly (didi), and Ellen Hostetter provided not just academic support, but also the warmth and affection of a family. Thanks to my extended UK community- Esther Long, Kenny Park, Liana Vasseur, Garrett Graddy, Sya Kedzior, Michael Marchman, Abby Foulds, John Hintz, iii Lauren Martin, David Correia, Trushna Parekh, Juli Hazelwood, and Lisa Rainey. Liana Vasseur’s excellent editing skills made the final dissertation readable. And thanks to the non-geography folks, Saju Varghese and Sushal Stephan, for being pillars of support during bouts of homesickness. Akcel Coss, Barian Shah, Ilie Thambi, and Ganesh provided the most comic entertainment breaks from an intense academic atmosphere. Numerous people in India made my fieldwork rich and productive. Thanks to countless hawkers who eagerly shared their life stories. I hope I did justice to their time spent with me. My gratitude goes to the members and staff of the Center for Civil Society, and the National Association of Street Vendors of India, for providing the perspective I needed. Thanks to Amita Baviskar and Sanjay Srivastava from the University of Delhi for reading my proposal and making constructive comments. I’m fortunate to have Dr Anshu Sonak, who has stood by me for the last 15 years, as my mentor at Delhi University. My family and friends in California, although removed from the PhD process, were not oblivious to the struggles of writing and each provided me with special cheer. My best friend and sister Pranita, and loving brother-in-law Gaurav Garg, were there for me every single day. My beautiful cousin, Neelu Jain, devotedly watched over me during my years in Kentucky and later in California. I am lucky to have Mala, Seema, Pooja as best friends and family away from home. All three listened to my project rants, and provided hot meals and encouraging words when things were messy. I dedicate this dissertation to my big fat Jain family in India. Very few people in this world are fortunate to have six sets of extremely dedicated parents.