Yoga, Neo-liberal Society, and Well-Being Industries: An Exploration of Global and Indian Perspectives

In 2015, 17 Sustainable Development Goals were formulated to address critical global issues such as poverty, inequality, climate change, access to education, and quality healthcare, with a grandiose vision of ‘transforming our world’. SDG-16 re-emphasised the need for peace, justice, and strong institutions. India and the Global South are likely to miss most SDG targets across multiple parameters by the 2030 cut-off. However, an attempt could have been made to integrate ‘Yoga’, a very oriental philosophical trait, with SDG-16. The much fanfare surrounding the observance of ‘World Yoga Day’ across the globe has rekindled hope that an ancient Indian practice will be the panacea for the multi-layered uncertainties the global society, at varying magnitudes, is facing. It raises some fundamental questions which this chapter shall address. In a neo-liberal set-up, India, as well as much of the world, surrendered to a structured, greed-based society. India has long moved away from a need-based to a greed-based society. The space for liberal thoughts has been replaced by meritocracy and technocracy. Global markets and market forces, neo-liberal experimentation in India and in various stretches of the Global South, have ensured high economic growth, stark income disparities, and the informalisation of 90% of the labour force. As a consequence, wellness industries are booming across borders, and the commodification of Yoga has been driven by market forces among the affluent, the semi-rich, and the rich. Two-thirds of society are either subjugated or grappling with coping strategies for life and livelihoods in the quagmire of the global neo-liberal order.