Human Insecurity in South Asia: Challenging Market Injustice

Abstract

My own presentation follows in the tradition of Durgabai in addressing the state of human insecurity, which remains the existential reality conditioning the lives of the underpriviliged and resource deprived members of the societies across South Asia. It is argued that while human insecurity impacts on all classes of people in some form or another it is highly assymatically distributed across South Asian societies where the resource deprived, in particular, remain more vulnerable than more priviliged members of society. It is further argued that market forces remain one of the most important drivers of insecurity. Markets can provide life threatening challenges to minifundist farmers or household enterprises where adverse production trends, shifts in price for their produce and services can drive households into debt and eventually destitution. Even the wealthier sectors of society may be exposed to market induced decline in their earnings, though business losses or loss of employment. But human vulnerability is measurable by the assymatical capacities of different households to absorb such risks and recoup their fortunes.