Decoding India! - how to make Sense of a Paradox 
Do you as a business person, policymaker or NGO really understand the paradoxes that frame India today? Consider the following: There are four Indians in the Forbes list of top ten billionaires, yet India is home to the world's largest poor population. It's highly educated middle class is at the forefront of IT revolution even though a large proportion of the Indian population remains illiterate. The world's largest functioning democracy is also said to be among the least transparent and the most corrupt nations. The rigid social structures of caste and religion endure alongside urban Indian middle class's material desires and high consumption levels of luxury goods and services. These contrasts often present challenges and a confusing picture especially when viewed from the outside.
What you will learn
The course will provide you with the up-to-date knowledge necessary to gain access and navigate one's way within the markets as well as the corridors of power. You will be able to:
- Draw the line from India's colonial past to current policies
- Watch and analyze the Indian ambition of being a strategic corporate brand
- Understand the nature and (consumer-) behavior of the world's largest middle class
- Understand the business culture and current economic policies
- Read the cultural signs and vocabulary of power
Course content
This course aims to open the theme of India's rise as a global power and the paradoxes that underpin the phenomenon. It offers an insight into the fast transforming social-political landscape both conceptually and empirically. It opens various facets of ‘new' India that are crucial in our fresh understanding of India. These include the history of India's economic and political development, its changing geopolitical role and the corresponding change in policies, and finally, the rise of the middle class which represents a vast untapped market as well as a force of social-cultural change. The workshop sessions will focus on the structures and forms of ‘power' and the ways in which cultural signs - social status, ‘connections' and ‘clout' across religion, caste and ethnic divides - of power are recognized and practiced. It will also lay special emphasis on the state of economy and prevalent business culture in India.
Participants
The course is aimed at businesses, media, NGOs and foreign policymakers who interact with ‘official India', and seek to acquire and enhance their understanding of the cultural underpinnings of this interaction.
Course dates
5 days, 13 - 17 August 2012, 9.00-17.00 at the University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg Campus.
Course director
Ravinder Kaur, Associate Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.
Other course teachers
Surinder Singh Jodhka, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Freddy Svane, Ambassador, Royal Danish Embassy, New Delhi.
Mihir Sharma, Associate Editor, Business Standard, New Delhi.
Kim Walsøe Jensen, Head of Corporate Service Center, A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S
Peter Birkelund Andersen, Associate Professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen.
Course fee
DKK 18,500/EUR 2,500 (excl. Danish VAT 25%) including teaching, course materials and all meals during course.
