Rahul Varman

Fellow in Management (IIM Ahmedabad)

Professor, Department of Management Sciences

Research Interest

The Political Economy of Corporations
Globalisation and Working Classes
Governance of Global Value Chains

https://iitk.ac.in/ime/rahulv/

Office

Department of Management Sciences
IIT Kanpur,
Kanpur 208016

Education

Fellow in Management, IIM Ahmedabad, 1994

M.Tech, IIT Kharagpur, 1987

B.Tech., Pantnagar, 1985

Teaching Area

MBA 611: ORGANISATION STRUCTURE & BEHAVIOUR

MBA 617: SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS

MBA 716: Introduction to Corporations (3-0-0-0-5)

MBA 717: Governance of Global Value Chains (3-0-0-0-5)

Selected Publications

'Imperialism of the Twenty-First Century' - A Review. Research Unit in Political Economy, Oct-2018.

Another World Is Possible? Economic & Political Weekly, XLVI, 33 August 13 - August 19, 2011. Review of: Globalisation and the Prospects for Critical Reflection edited by Jung Min Choi and John W Murphy (Delhi: Aakar Books), 2009; pp xvi + 286, Rs 595.

A Window to Reality, Economic & Political Weekly, XLVI, 26 & 27, June 25, 2011. Review of: Sanhati Selections 2011: An Anthology in Solidarity with People’s Struggles, Rs 30. ‘Sovereign Are the People’: A Diary in Stormy Times, selections from the Sanhati columns by Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri, Kolkata, 2010.

A Skewed Global Order, Economic & Political Weekly, XLIII, 38, Sep. 20, 2008. Review of: Globalisation and Development by Sunanda Sen (National Book Trust, India, New Delhi, 2007).

Critiquing Globalisation, Economic & Political Weekly, XLII, 29, July 21, 2007. Review of: Questioning Globalization by Kavaljit Singh (Delhi: Madhyam Books, & London and New York: Zed Books, 2005).

Making the Impossible Possible, Economic & Political Weekly, XLI, 31, 3407-3409, 2006. Review of: Understanding the Venezuelan Revolution: Hugo Chavez Talks to Marta Harnecker, translated by Chesa Boudin (New Delhi: Daanish Books, in association with New York: Monthly Review Press, 2005).

Examining the Origins and Nature of Corporations, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2005. Review of: Organizing America: Wealth, power, and the origins of corporate capitalism by Charles Perrow (Princeton: Princeton University Press and Oxford, 2002).

Democracy and Workplace in Eastern Europe, Economic & Political Weekly, June 30 – July 6, 2001, 2349-2351. Review of: Transformation at Work in the New Market Economies of Central Eastern Europe, Anna Pollert (London: Sage, 1999).

Work: Then and Now, Economic & Political Weekly, July 29, 2000, 2730-2732. Review of: The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism by Richard Sennett (New York: W W Norton and Company, 1998).

Selected Writing: Indian Telecom’s Spectacular Rise and the Nature of Monopoly Capital in India, Part I to V. Aspects of India’s Economy, No. 80, pp. 3-64, May 2023.

The Telecom Industry in India: Free Market or Monopoly-Finance Capital? Monthly Review, Vol. 75, No. 1, May 2023.

Revisiting Friedman’s Construct of Corporations: Corporate Irresponsibility and Smokescreen of the Corporate Veil. Economic & Political Weekly. Vol. 57, No. 50, pp. 47-54, Dec 10, 2022.

Public Private Partnerships – Subsidy and Impunity for Private Corporations: Delhi Metro as a Case study. Rsearch Unit for Political Economy, Jan 2022.

The Larger Issues Underlying the Claim of Cairn Energy on Air India, Rsearch Unit for Political Economy, June 2021.

Making Sense of the Present Moment of ‘Onlinisation’ of Teaching. Rsearch Unit for Political Economy, Dec 2020.

Citizenship and the Nation of the Rich in India. Research Unit in Political Economy, Apr-2020.Hindi translation

Kanpur Leather Cluster Revisited after a Decade (With Manali Chakrabarti). Aspects of India's Economy, No. 72 & 73, pp. 48-63, May-2018.Tamil translation

Labour in Global Value Chains: A Study of the Leather and Footwear Manufacturing Cluster of Kanpur (with Manali Chakrabarti). Aspects of India's Economy, No. 72 & 73, pp. 21-47, May-2018.Tamil translation

Behind the Hype of E-commerce, Part I-V. Aspects of India's Economy, No. 65, pp. 3-63, Nov-2016

Rising Corporate Military Complex in India: A Critical Appraisal. Aspects of India's Economy, No. 61, pp. 3-66, Jun-2015.

Royalties: Royal Treatment of Foreign Investors, Aspects of India's Economy, No. 56, Mar-2014. https://www.rupe-india.org/56/royalties.html

What Lies Behind the Doubling of Gas Prices? Sanhati Journal, July 2013.

Cowboy Capitalism: Curious Case of Reliance KG Basin Gas Business. Sanhati Journal, 02, 2013.

The Neoclassical Apology for Monopoly Capital. Monthly Review, Vol. 64, No. 6, Nov. 2012.

The Political Economy of Corporations: Behind the Veil of ‘Corporate Efficiency’. Aspects of India’s Economy, No. 52, pp. 39-88, June 2012.

What’s really at Stake in the Vodafone Tax Case? org, May 2012,

Corporate Personhood: Rights without responsibilities. com, Jan. 2012.

Notes from Small Industry Clusters: Making sense of knowledge and barriers to innovation (with Manali Chakrabarti). AI & Society, 26, 4, 2011, 393-415.

Is NGO Development Assistance Mistargeted? An Epistomological Approach (with Nimruji Jammulamadaka). Critical Review, 22, 2, 2010, 117 – 128.

Aarthik Vraddhi ka Rahasya (with Manali Chakrabarti), Vaikalpik Aarthik Varshiki, Bharat, KN Kabra, V Upadyay & Dhruv Narayan (eds.). Delhi: Daanish Books, 23-30, 2010.

Debating the Ideology of Globalization (with Manali Chakrabarti). InfoChange News & Features, November 2008.

Contradictions of Employee Involvement, Information Sharing, and Expectations: A Case Study of an Indian Worker Cooperative (with George Mathew Kandathil). Economic and Industrial Democracy, 28, 1, 2007, 145-179.

Labour Standards and Globalisation (with Manali Chakrabarti). Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 50, 1, 2007.

Approaching Human Phenomena: A Methodological Note. Bharatiya Samajik Chintan, IV, 4, 236 – 243, 2006.

Industrial Clustering and Cooperation: The Kanpur Saddlery Cluster (with Mridula Dwivedi). Indian Industrial Clusters, Keshab Das (ed.), 123-142. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2005.

Contradictions of Democracy in a Workers' Co-operative (with Manali Chakrabarti). Organisation Studies, 25, 2, 2004, 183-208.

Nature of Trust in Small Firm Clusters (with Mridula Dwivedi & KK Saxena). International Journal of Organisation Analysis, 11, 2, 2003, 93-104.

Workers’ Struggles in the Times of Globalisation: A Critique of Trade Unions in Historical Perspective (with Manali Chakrabarti). Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 2003, 46, 4, 667-684.

Power and Politics in Grievance Resolution: Managing Meaning of Due Process in an Organisation (with Deepti Bhatnagar). Human Relations, 52, 1999, 349-382.