Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

  Corruption, Normalization, and the Procrustean Bed: India’s Grave Crisis Posted on 20th June, 2025 (GMT 21:50 hrs) ABSTRACT This paper interrogates the normalization of corruption in contemporary India through the theoretical frameworks of Michel Foucault and Theodor Adorno. Rejecting the moralistic and legalistic definitions of corruption as insufficient, it argues that corruption functions not as a deviation from institutional norms but as the normative logic of governance itself. Employing the metaphor of the Procrustean bed, the paper explores how disciplinary power, media capture, and cultural internalization enable the institutional reproduction of corruption. Empirical data from Transparency International and the Global Economic Freedom Index further substantiate the entrenchment of corruption across sectors. The study concludes with a call to dismantle the ideological apparatus sustaining this disciplinary regime. 1. Rethinking Corruption Conventional understandings ...

From Hungry “Thieves” (?) to Quora’s Ban: Victims Fight Crony Capitalism From Hungry “Thieves” (?) to Quora’s Ban: Victims Fight Crony Capitalism Posted on 22nd May, 2025 (GMT 11:20 hrs) ABSTRACT The article critiques the systemic exploitation of small investors in India through the DHFL scam, alleging that Ajay Piramal acquired DHFL at a major undervaluation via a flawed IBC process that favoured corporate interests over the rights of vulnerable small investors. It accuses political and financial elite, including the BJP and RBI, of enabling this injustice. The piece especially brings to light the recent event of censorship of certain DHFL victims’ voices on Quora, where certain OBMA members were suspended for criticizing the RBI-appointed CoC-led resolution process. Framing the issue as a case of crony capitalism and “financial genocide” (finacide), it calls for justice and accountability. “We ain’t thieves! Just hungry!” The title card, an inscription, reads  “We ain’t thie...