* When we quote the pathways chosen by Germany or the Nordic countries, it would be important to remember the role played the Trade Unions in these countries when the term Flexible Firm and Just in Time systems were drastically changing the size and the structure of industrial organizations. Even when the surplus workers were released due to the technology, they remained the members of the Unions, and in fact found a placement in the second tier units, through these unions. ( I vaguely remember having read a piece by Prof. Sarthi Acharya which mapped this process). Societies that always respected social cohesion are more likely to find similarly nuanced effective solutions to challenges posed by changing technology, climate, demography and even wars. I have my own doubts if such Flexicurity can be deployed in other societies with little historical experience of prioritizing social cohesion.
Particularly when we have bypassed tripartism and the trust in collective wisdom, one is only left to hope that things would somehow turn benign for the vulnerable.

* So much more can be said about learning from other countries/ societies. But I will stop by making one observation I came across when I was studying what happened in the Mumbai textile industry.
* It is said that Textile industry typically follows the Flying Geese model. Which means that the cluster begins, it grows and then it declines. And then it moves to a new destination. (Pankaj Ghemavat and others have written extensively on this dynamics.. of how the clusters decline)
And the same thing has happened to many textile clusters across the world. (Manchester etc) I came across an interesting strategy deployed in Prato, Italy, where the composite mills were shut down retaining the best run departments in each mill. And together they emerged as composite mills spread across Prato! Now that’s the collective vision. Of course such innovations need political will.

We, too, had Charles Correa’s vision when the decline of the Mumbai mills was certain as the day light. The mill land was to be shared between the mill owners, workers and the larger society..

We know what happened.. ..