ABSTRACT
This chapter presents preliminary attempt to assess the features and outcomes of primitive accumulation in India in the context of neoliberal globalization. India has already experienced a considerable degree of capitalist development and possesses a well-developed capitalist sector operating in relation to coexistent non-capitalist sectors. The chapter provides a brief review of theoretical concepts and key issues pertaining to primitive accumulation and accumulation by dispossession (ABD) in the context of capitalist development. It outlines the salient features of neoliberal policy shifts in India. The chapter presents distinct mechanisms of land grabs in neoliberal India, as well as resistance to them. It explores the impacts of neoliberal policies, including income deflation. The chapter reviews major explanations of the persistence and preponderance of self-employed labour, drawing out the implications for the 'transition to capitalism'. It integrates the key conclusions on the mechanisms and determinants of primitive accumulation and puts forward theoretical reflections emerging from the analysis of neoliberal India.
