Marxist scholar Randhir Singh remembered

w/pic by Shantanu

Times News Network

Chandigarh: Noted political theorist and Marxist scholar Randhir Singh, who passed away in New Delhi last year, was remembered at the first memorial lecture on the topic “Pathways out of Neoliberalism – Can We Revive the Development State?” at the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC).

Vivek Chibber, a professor in sociology with New York University, pointed out that neo-liberalism is failing on its own terms and is not desirable anymore. He suggested that the developmental model needs to take the working poor on the front instead of marginalising them. “As we are passing through a period of low growth, dearth of jobs and an agrarian crisis, massive employment schemes must be launched in the public sector,” he recommended.

Chibber said that neo-liberalism is in an economic crisis and has been since 2007- 08 recession. It has meant that income and growth have stagnated and has resulted in a series of electoral convulsions in the west. He is the author of two books and a contributor to New Left Review. In his second book, he has argued that postcolonial studies are based on three false premises.

Recalling his first meeting with Randhir Singh in Delhi in 1994, Chibber said that while the talk was supposed to last for just a couple of hours, they went on talking for over eight hours.

Dr Pramod Kumar, former chairman, Punjab Governance Reforms Commission recalled his association with Prof Randhir Singh, hailing him as one of the finest Marxist political theorists.

Prof Singh's ancestral village was Manuke in Moga district. He had stood first in MA political science, though he had appeared in the examination as a detenue. Apart from a brief stint at Jawaharlal Nehru University, he spent his entire academic career at the department of political science at the University of Delhi.

Professor Singh, who retired as a distinguished professor from Delhi University in 1987 stayed away from the trap of commercialism and was always soberly dressed. His simplicity stood out and the warmth with which he interacted with people always left a lasting impression. Students would come to him for all sorts of academic help.