CONTENTS

the Fourth World Women's Conference in Beijing, make possible the thematic documentation of crises in human and social development, they also lead to an avoidance of any critical evaluation of the development processes which have led to the crises. 2102 Towards Beijing Lessons from East Asia Trends in the flow of direct foreign investment into east Asia hold interesting pointers to how the Indian government should frame its strategy to attract foreign investment. 2112 Double Jeopardy The Kashmiri people and their demand for 'azadi' are caught between the Indian army's operations on the one hand and those of so-called 'guest militants' determined to convert a national movement into a religious wai on the other. 2105 While joint forest management is a step forward from centralised state-controlled management systems, is it as participatory and decentralised as it is claimed to be? The experience of Tamil Nadu. 2110 Economic Reform and States While the broad industrial policy framework is formulated by the central government, it is the state governments that can influence the strategic location of new investments and the associated pay-offs. What are the critical policy issues in relation to industrial liberalisation at the state leveI? M-117 Emperor's New Clothes In the large-scale reorganisation of the power and telecom sectors now under way, the overriding consideration is that of making private investment attractive. Concern for consumers is not on the agenda. 2114 Not the Whole Story Ecological economies' concepts of scale, uncertainty and ecosystem health have to be central to decisions on and evaluations of large infrastructure projects, Disregard of these factors in regard to the Narmada Valley project invalidates many previous analyses which have typically relied on traditional cost-benefit analysis. 2138 Forest Management No Panacea Flexible specialisation is characterised-as a single model with a definite set of labour consequences, whereas the reality is much more varied. In developing countries flexible production and organisation of small firms is in fact a survival strategy of enterprises struggling for a market niche which does not attract the larger companies. M-124 Vol XXX No 34 August 26, 1995 Indian Industry under Liberalisation The Indian computer industry has come a long way since its total reliance on imports from a few multinationals in the 1960s. However, the current round of import liberalisation is producing an increasing number of features redolent of that earlier period. M-82 The experience of the computer hardware industry holds important lessons for the success of the shift in the government's role from doer-controller to facilitator-intervener vis-a-vis industry. M-94 An empirical evaluation of the performance of the cement industry during the various phases of control and decontrol can provide major inputs for the ongoing debate on whether economic liberalisation will significantly contribute to industrial growth and efficiency. M-lll Colonial Policy and Communalism In the study of communalism, the colonial policy of separate electorates for religious minorities has been put forward as a powerful explanatory factor. A comparison of British India and the princely states of Baroda and Travancore suggests that such arrangements had much less influence on the formation of communal identities than has generally been assumed. 2123 Institutional Change and Farm Productivity West Bengal is the only state which has for the last nearly two decades been operating a system of democratically elected local self-government. It has also successfully carried out certain land reform measures. What has been the impact of these institutional changes on agricultural productivity? 2134 Hrtkari House 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road. Bombay 400 001 Phones 2616072/73 Grams Econweekly