Religion and Market

Today, there are two un-mistakable strands to the aggressive mobilisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party. One is instrumentalising religion and the second, weaponising the free market. Aggressive neoliberalism is hand in glove with militant imageries of religious figures. The monetisation and privatisation of public assets have combined with de-privatising religion and dragging it out to the streets. “Free Market” is not about being free but “compensatory consumption” for the middle classes and subsistence for the underpriviledged. In the same way, religion is not about spirituality but justifying majoritarian dominance.

Religion is neither personal nor social. It is a product of ruling classes and used by the ruling classes to domesticate the masses. It is a tool of mass subordination. The religious reactionary political, social and cultural forces use religion to uphold the ruling class ideology of governance. The religious praxis is an escape route under capitalism. It institutionalises spiritualism and domesticates human emotion that is compliant and subservient to the established structures and superstructures of power, represented by the states and governments. Religions help for the growth of sectarianism in the society which destroys the idea of share and care. The collective social spirit and solidarity is replaced by puritan religious practices of individuals in search of happiness in a market society based on price tags.

Market is a product of society. It is a combination of social processes and social institutions. It brings producers and consumers together to satisfy their everyday needs and desires. However, capitalism has destroyed the social and collective character of market and replaced it with market individualism, where actions are determined by the idea of utility, pleasure and satisfaction. This is the only way market can make profit and establish a society based on consumerism that commodities social relations, human beings and nature. The culture of consumerism destroys cultures of diverse consumption habits of people. In the process, it destroys local production, local business and local consumption to spread global market forces. Market fundamentalism helps large corporations to consolidate their global presence.

In this way, flag waving nationalists, religious and market forces are helping capitalist systems but damaging social cohesion by spreading alienation, anxiety and fear. It is time for the left politics to reframe its narratives and reclaim the lost glories of democratic and pluriversal internationalism, scientific secularism and social foundations of a market that is free and fair in real sense. It is time to replace religion with science and nation states with cooperative communities to establish collective control over markets and ensure social ownership over resources.

The cultural relativism and its ruinous political path had led the left forces to conceptualise National Socialism, state command market economy and government led secularism, where capitalism and all its ideological tenets survived and managed to kill the democratic, socialist and secular practices across the globe. National Socialism is a myth. State command market economy has helped to develop market fundamentalism. The cultural relativism and its essentialist arguments of exceptionalism have helped the religious reactionary forces to capture state power. It is within this context, the left forces need to reframe their narratives on nationalism, religion and market. These three things are weapons of ruling and non-ruling elites today.

There is no time for pessimism. It is not the time for ideological bargain. It is time for a worldwide struggle for peace and prosperity for a sustainable world for all. It is possible and inevitable for the survival of people and planet.  

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Frontier
Vol 54, No. 46, May 15 - 21, 2022