ABSTRACT
The most powerful images of globalised economies across the world today appear to make time, space and place irrelevant. In an era of mobile capital, these images give us the illusion that time, space, place and matter are immaterial. It would be hard to imagine then, that land — immovable, concrete, autochthonous — has emerged as among the most contentious issues of our time. The crises and conflicts over land have brought to the fore enduring forms of socioeconomic and political divisions in the drama of contemporary neo-liberal economic development in India: state versus citizen, farmer versus industrialist, farmer versus realtor/developer, urban versus rural, middle class versus working and lower classes, castes and indigenous people. Perhaps, this is a sign of the divide between realities on ground zero, on the one hand, and the visions that emerge from the corridors of power on the other. This paper will attempt to highlight some of the major issues relating to land acquisition in the wake of the special economic zone (SEZ) policy in India, which, in the past three years or so, has symbolised, reflected and intensified these divides. 1
