“Indian Arrivistes and Cyber Coolies: Reflections on Global Outsourcing and the Middle Class”

Globalization, we used to think, meant the movement of manufacturing jobs to the developing world. It brought work to regions that needed it, while dislocating the lives of the working classes in the richer countries. That was until it moved into the information technology and service sectors at the turn of the century. This article examines the globalization of white‐collar service work, with a view to its impact on emerging economies like India. The bulk of evidence suggests that while offshore outsourcing benefits the middle class in receiving countries, it does not appreciably expand it. Nor does it reliably produce upward mobility or recognizable career paths or even significant upskilling – most of the work being outsourced is rote and standardized. It produces decent jobs in holding patterns. And there are more and more of them as corporations look to continue cutting costs. Rather than authors of their own destinies, corporations have made of countries in the global south their willing and faithful scribes. I first provide a bird's eye view of what is happening and then look more closely at discoveries on the ground.