The notion of progress is embedded in modernity where people believe that they can always improve themselves and their environment with the help of knowledge and technology. This definition of modernity reminded me of an article I read discussing outsourcing initiatives in India. Many of us have had the experience of calling our telephone or computer company to speak with a customer service representative and have our call directed to India. Outsourcing is often considered to be the epitome of globalization and in the global economy businesses are seeking to find the cheapest labour to achieve the greatest profit. Businesses are able to hire people overseas and pay them 30-50% less than they would pay North Americans to do the exact same job. In a CNN news story, an analyst in India working for an American company said that “for the first time in the knowledge industry we have globalization impacting two countries at such a large scale - India and the U.S.” While outsourcing is considered to give Indian men and women a “taste of modernity”, I can’t help but ask, to what extent?
Outsourcing in India is twofold and I think the NBC show,“Outsourced” does a good job portraying both sides of the dichotomy. The plot revolves around Todd, an American who has moved to Mumbai, India to manage a call center. He faces the challenge of learning the Indian language and culture and teaching the American culture to his Indian counterparts. In an episode where an Indian worker is trying to explain Thanksgiving to his colleague he says,
“It’s quite simple really . . . the Pilgrims came to a land that was not their own and subjugated the Indians so that the white man could run their call center . . . I mean country.”
This quote illustrates that the characters are aware that outsourcing is premised on neo-colonialism and that they are subjected to their American boss. However, it is hard to turn a blind eye to the positive effects of outsourcing. The Indian men and women seemingly get a taste of modernity as they are given the opportunity to earn money, improve their economy and get a sense of national pride as they show people around the world that they too have a powerful workforce.
Sonia, I think you offered a very good example of the new kind of mental cheap labour in an era of globalization and post-colonialization. I was just wondering if Indian men and women will agree with the saying that outsourcing elevated their level of modernity, because it sounds like confessing some inferiority...
ReplyDeleteSonia, this is a very interesting post. I actually wasn't aware until recently that the majority of our service companies where outsourced out of North America. It’s very interesting to see how advanced everything is becoming and makes you wonder what the next 20 years will be like.
ReplyDeleteStella brings up a really interesting question; I would also be interested to see how someone of that demographic would consider this case study.
ReplyDeleteI think the quote that you posted was really interesting; it locates us as a technologically centred nation while at the same time demonstrating our infiltration into a territory that was not ours. There is also the entirely separate issue of unjust treatment to First Nations people, which may exemplify the negative effects of "modernity" to this marginalized group
- Stella, you raise a very good point and I think part of the answer can be found in the “taste of modernity” link. The authors focused on women who received jobs in the call centers. The women interviewed for the article seemed to think that these jobs were quite liberating as they were able to be breadwinners for their families which is uncommon in India. Furthermore, they lived in rural areas and enjoyed working in the knowledge industry. I think in order to answer the question, we need to ask whether or not the benefits of outsourcing outweigh the costs and I don’t think there is anyway to objectively measure this.
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