Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

Revisiting the Capitalist Spirit: Business Elites, Sociocultures, and Capitalism in Gujarat

Janina Myrczik (Medical School Berlin)

Abstract

This presentation examines the emergence of the capitalist spirit among the business elite in the Indian state of Gujarat—a region with a long-standing tradition of commerce, a cradle of (colonial) industrialization in India in the early twentieth century, and later known for its early economic liberalization under Narendra Modi's tenure as Chief Minister beginning in 2001. Previous analyses of the entrepreneurial spirit have highlighted the asynchronicity of its values and their divergent interpretations across socio-economic groups. In this context, the values of the business elite have not been systematically studied.

Based on qualitative interviews with 17 leaders of the wealthiest companies in the state, this study explores how the capitalist spirit emerged and how it is interpreted differently across fractions of the business elite. The research emphasizes the hybridity of the capitalist spirit as embedded in the regional context. Furthermore, the findings show that there is no single, encompassing capitalist spirit; rather, interpretations vary according to sociocultures—persisting social structures developed in earlier historical periods. Finally, the study points to the coexistence of multiple varieties of (inter)national capitalism.

Janina Myrczik is a sociologist working as lecturer in qualitative methods at Medical School Berlin and researcher at Evangelische Hochschule Berlin. She is interested in the extreme right, qualitative methods, social movements, and social inequality. 

When? April 28th, 6 PM

Where? IAAW, Invalidenstr. 118, Room 117