Challenging Western stereotypes
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Mainstream global media are busy portraying India as the new superpower. But while they're challenging some stereotypes they're still blaming India and the rest of the developing world for most global problems, including overpopulation, global warming and pandemics
In recent months both New Scientist and the New Statesman have published special editions challenging stereotypes about India. In January the New Statesman offered its readers 'everything you need to know about the new superpower' -- from the economic boom to the sexual revolution.
Earlier, New Scientist had been more measured: not only does India now possess the most sophisticated technology - nuclear power, satellites, etc - but much of this is being used to enable the poorest sections of society to improve their lot. It was also pointed out that India's president, a Muslim, is a top-ranking expert in both space and nuclear science.
Such publications challenge the familiar stereotypes - India as backward, superstitious, poor, etc. We are given actual evidence that shows, for example, how new technology really does address the needs of remote communities by offering them electrification, access to basic education, the Internet, and so on. But the accurate presentation of a balanced picture of what is happening in many parts of the world, especially the poorer ones, is an ongoing struggle.
Some time ago The Independent published a major article claiming that India is more to blame for greenhouse-gas emissions than any European country. Taken at face value, the statement sounded disturbing. But on reflection the argument fell apart. So I wrote to the newspaper to point out that with a population of more than a billion, India should be compared, not with any European country, but with the whole of Europe.
The average Indian produces only 10% of the amount of carbon dioxide generated by the average North American. In fact, the average English child consumes eight times as much of the world's natural resources in terms of energy as a child born in any non-G8 country.
More recently the same newspaper announced that, according to two top scientists, 'overpopulation is the main threat to the planet'. These two scientists firmly believed that this simple truth was being ignored or downplayed in the name of political correctness. So I did a quick calculation on the back of an envelope and sent the following correction to the newspaper. If you were to take the entire population of the world, sent it to the US, and spread it evenly, then the population density there would be no greater than it is now in the Netherlands - and the Dutch still have plenty of room for their beloved tulips!
So how about some good news - about India? Many major Indian cities now have legislation to oblige all transport to use compressed natural gas for fuel. The improvement of air quality with consequent reduction in respiratory illnesses is enormous. But do we see any reference to this in British newspapers or on television? Of course not: anything that challenges the ambitions of the car industry doesn't stand a chance.
One of the reasons why India can carry through some of its most sweeping environmental legislation is that the Supreme Court, which ultimately determines it, is superior to Parliament and has considerable powers.
India's heads of state have included Muslims, Sikhs and high- and low-caste Hindus, but so far no Christians, though the current Congress party leader, Sonia Gandhi, is a Roman Catholic. Democracy is in good shape, the former BJP-led government did well in a number of areas, but it failed to cater for the needs of the rural poor and mishandled a massacre of Muslims in Gujarat. For these reasons, and no doubt others, it was voted out.
Environmentally, India has been a world leader - at least at the political level. Indira Gandhi was the only head of state to take part in the first UN conference on the environment in 1972; she was one of three to attend the UN conference on new and renewable energy sources in 1981.
The 1970s and 1980s saw an upsurge of environmental and developmental concern in India - Project Tiger and the setting up of new national parks, for example. But stereotypes remain, and will only change as people confront them. They feed on ignorance, but are often driven by vested interests, political expediency and collective self-indulgence.
If only we in the West can convince ourselves that the people of the so-called developing world are to blame for overpopulation, global warming, pandemics and other major problems, then it's for them to change their ways before we need to do anything.
In fact it is the affluent, consumer-oriented industrialised world - and some urban pockets of the non-industrialised world - that are responsible for our current global crises. How convenient, then, to find solace in a few useful stereotypes which absolve us from blame, enabling us to continue our unsustainable lifestyles.
(David Gosling teaches ecology at the University of Cambridge. This article originally appeared in Resurgence, July/August 2006)
-- Third World Network Features, July 2006