Neoliberalism as Doxa: Bourdieu's Theory of the State and the Contemporary Indian Discourse on Globalization and Liberalization

This paper assesses, on the basis of key arguments from Pierre Bourdieu's work, how and why a consensus about the positive effects of globalization and liberalization could have established itself as a dominant discourse across Indian social space. Describing the discourse that validates globalization and economic liberalization as a particular worldview, which he terms ‘neoliberalism’, Bourdieu describes how neoliberalism establishes itself as a doxa - an unquestionable orthodoxy that operates as if it were the objective truth - across social space in its entirety, from the practices and perceptions of individuals to the practices and perceptions of the state and social groups. The full import of Bourdieu's arguments about neoliberalism, however, can only be grasped with reference to Bourdieu's theory of the state, and with reference to key concepts, such as doxa, habitus, field and capital. This paper, accordingly, seeks to fulfil two related objectives: to explicate Bourdieu's theory of the state and his concepts of habitus, doxa, field and capital, and to describe, on the basis of Bourdieu's arguments, how neoliberalism as doxa could have colonized the discussion and perception in Indian social space about the effects of globalization and liberalization.