What Rishi Sunak Can Learn From Dadabhai Naoroji’s Brand of Capitalism

A new book focuses on Dadabhai Naoroji’s commitment to social interdependence that is embedded within society.

Now that Sunak is the Prime, can Naoroji’s politics help him understand – and respond to – today’s political realities?

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Merchant, scholar, writer, and political thinker, but most notably, the first Indian ever to be elected to the UK Parliament in 1892 – Dadabhai Naoroji not only broke the glass ceiling in the Britain of the time, which was not multiracial and freedom-preaching like it is today, but also used his status to hold a mirror up to the British liberal and radical canon.

He was India’s preeminent liberal and by correlating instances of communal unrest in Mumbai (then Bombay) to the downfall of the Parsi community, he extensively critiqued British liberalism’s inability to maintain civil order.

In doing so, he offered his own kind of liberalism which was constituted within “labour rights, economic republicanism, and social interdependence maintained by freely contracting workers.”

Naoroji was anti-racist and anti-imperialist of global prominence.

The Grand Old Man of India, who was proud of his Zoroastrian religion and the principles enshrined in it, took the oath on his religious book, the Khordeh Avesta, and not the Bible. Nearly 125 years later, Rishi Sunak took his oath with his hand on Gita when he was elected to the House of Commons.

Now that Sunak is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first of south Asian origin, during a time of crises within the British society and muddled perspectives of British imperial history, can Naoroji’s politics help him understand – and respond to – today’s political realities?

A new book, Uncivil Liberalism: Labour, Capital and Commercial Society in Dadabhai Naoroji’s Political Thought, by Vikram Visana, delves into concerns towards civil peace and social interdependence which is woven into the fabric of liberty and social economy. Visana calls it the first attempt to treat Naoroji as “a conscious theorist of liberalism.”

A Sneak Peek Into Naoroji’s Political Thought Process

Born into a family of modest means in Bombay, Naoroji was an early benefactor of free public schooling in India, and he regarded public service as the best way to repay his moral debts for his education. From an early age, he supported far-reaching progressive causes.

His life, indeed, is a remarkable example of the effectiveness of progressive politics and the way that the steadfast pursuit of such politics may shed light on even the most tragic periods of history.

Naoroji’s theories entered the British public discourse at a time when it was brimming with questions on the rights and social role of labour. These concepts on some of the pressing issues of the time were not only pioneered during his days in India but also reconfigured by the politics of the time.

However, his persuasive and successful campaigning that led him to secure a place in the British House of Commons as an MP can be credited to his advocacy for labour rights and the “drain of wealth” – which also finds a mention in his 1901 book, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.

“However, these Indian perspectives on the relationship between labour, capital, and the state under colonial monopoly also influenced Naoroji’s attitude towards the situation in the British Isles,” remarks Visana, a lecturer in political theory at the University of Leicester.

“If you look at Britain and his writings after the 1860s, he is mentioning about the capitalist monopoly that existed in the UK: oligarchs who have a kind of vested interests. And therefore, it is of utmost importance to the British to fight against these issues. But at the same time, he pointed out that Indians are suffering from the same thing – the only difference being that Indians have to tweak the imperial system whereas the British have to tweak their democratic system,” Visana tells The Quint.

“And sadly, these cross-community radicalism, a sense of solidarity between people across different walks of life suffering under the same sort of structures has been lost in recent times,” he adds.

Here, it is important to acknowledge that Naoroji is still a capitalist – and not a Marxist – who can work through all sorts of inconsistencies in the way British capitalism functions which also has an enormous component of race.

'State-Managed Capitalism’

Though being a capitalist himself, Naoroji criticises the management that runs behind capitalism and not the free market ideology.

“While he critiques capitalism, he does not see state intervention as the solution. He does not advocate the nationalisation of anything. What he does realise is that capitalism works in different ways in different parts of the world and is instrumental in forming people’s identities and prejudices in different parts of the world in myriad ways,” says Visana.

By drawing a comparison of the exploitation of the working class by elites in Britain and India, Naoroji offers distinct solutions which are rooted in a specific context and focuses on the creation of innovative institutions to tackle these issues separately and differently.

“In India, he wants more Indians to be included in the Bombay Municipal Council to control finances and engage in public works, whereas, in Britain, he is basically after wage arbitration which must consist of boards that should incorporate business owners and their employees to decide on what the legitimate wages should be.”

The Britain of today seems to be on the cusp of a financial crisis. And this again is an outcome of the complicity of the UK government which is not incorporating the right and effective steps to manage capitalism that is tuned to the challenges. In particular, as Visana argues, “Sunak’s brand of conservatism” has allowed the market to rip everywhere which has resulted in the production of the same society everywhere – and that is deeply “concerning.”

“And I think that is something of an extraordinary nature that Sunak – and his Tory Party members – need to realise that by allowing the market system to be the same everywhere, they are doing a gross disservice in building the same sort of society everywhere. Here, Naoroji’s push for managing capitalism and asking the state to intervene in a way that is socially productive to that specific region must be embraced and considered, as the capitalism advertised by the West, in most cases, often causes civil violence,” affirms Visana.

Unite People Behind a Common Economic Message

Distinctively, Sunak represents a global perspective on an Indian getting elected as he represents global capital and global constituency. The Oxford-educated former hedge fund manager, who is married to an Indian billionaire's daughter, has boasted in the past about not knowing any "working class" people and about shifting money from less affluent areas to more prosperous ones.

On the contrary, Naoroji, though a supporter of capitalism, represented labourers and the working class. He not only understood the problems of Indian labourers but also showed his interest in the Irish population who were suffering under the same sort of racial capitalism that Indians were going through at that time. And to a large extent, he also spoke of British labourers.

In that case, despite breaking glass ceilings in their own ways, Naoroji and Sunak represent different domestic constituencies with a different sort of ideals.

“Given things at the moment, Sunak is going to have a hard time in the next election. However, if he considers himself a one-nation Tory, he needs to reach out to citizens across the class divide which can unite people behind a common economic message – particularly during industrial action and trade unionist strikes across the nation,” says Visana.

“Nonetheless, if the Conservatives have not considered coming up with some popular capitalist policies, it is certainly a good thing to learn from Naoroji. The other thing he needs to learn is to try to be a good listener and come up with community solutions – socially conservative but reformist capitalist.”

After more than a century, as right-wing populism and authoritarianism is becoming a new reality not only in the UK and the Indian sub-continent but across the world, it becomes important to revisit his ideas and thoughts. He would certainly urge us to have faith in progressive ideals, determination, and perseverance – even at bleak times like this.

“If he still saw India today, he might become a bit more radical,” Visana theorises.

Kalrav Joshi is an independent multimedia journalist based out of London. He writes on politics, culture, climate and technology. He tweets at @kalravjoshi_.