From the Commission to the Mission Model

Technology Czars and the Indian Middle Class

Bibliographic Data

ID3663011
AuthorsItty Abraham (0000-0002-1604-0002, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume76
Issue3
Pages675-696
Publication date2017-08-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0021911817000146
OpenAlexW2736866184
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited20

This article identifies a major transformation in India's approach to strategic technology development from an earlier Commission model, epitomized by atomic energy, that seeks the enhancement of sovereign power, to a Mission model, epitomized by telecommunications, directed toward the furthering of biopolitical power. It compares five strategic industries in India-atomic energy, space, electronics, biotechnology and telecommunications-and shows that no single factor is responsible for technological success or failure. Outcomes depend on the strength of political networks, the structure and maturity of the industry, the extent of bureaucratic resistance, and the technological strategy adopted. This finding contests the widely held perspective that success in strategic technology development is the product of the extraordinary efforts of a single individual, a technology "czar," and explains the persistence of this narrative by highlighting the role of technoscience in mediating a highly ambivalent relation between the Indian middle class and the state

Commission · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Product (mathematics) · Sociology · Telecommunications · Engineering · Indian Economic and Social Development · Law · Social and Economic Development in India · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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