------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Rcy2bD/UOnJAA/cosFAA/e0EolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
The Hindu
May 24, 2005
Book Review
LABOUR POLITICS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR
Suranjan Das
This book breaks new ground by unfolding the strength of collective
resistance of the working class in the informal sector
THE EVERYDAY POLITICS OF LABOUR -- Working Lives in India's Informal
Economy: Geert De Neve; Pub. by Social Science Press, 69, Jor Bagh,
New Delhi, and distributed by Foundation Books, 4381/4, Ansari Road,
Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002.
Rs. 795.
James Scott's classic, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Popular
Resistance has provided entry points for historians of popular
protest politics. The present work is yet another example of this.
Expansion of the informal industrial sector and the increase in the
causal labour force in India in the aftermath of the country's
economy opening up to globalisation have been adequately documented.
But this book breaks new ground by unfolding the strength of
collective resistance of the working class in the informal sector.
This has been on the basis of a study of "everyday" labour politics
in handloom, power-loom and dyeing industries in the Bhavani and
Kumarapalyam towns of Tamil Nadu.
Organised struggle
De Neve's work testifies to the diverse nature of relations between
employers, workers and the state in the three industries. Thanks to
their organised and sustained struggles, the Bhavani handloom weavers
have ensured for themselves minimum wages and bonus.
This was largely possible due to political support from the local
Communist Party as well as caste solidarity and shared consciousness
shaped by work-experience amongst the Vanniyars who constitute the
predominant section of handloom weavers. Interestingly, successful
working class movement has facilitated upward mobility of some
Vanniyar weavers to master weavers and workshop owners.
The author, however, cautions us that this development has not
generated a feeling of equality within the Vanniyar weavers. It is
the male weavers who have benefited from social mobility causing
feminisation of the handloom labour force in Bhavani. But these women
workers experience marginalisation in the male-dominated
union-activity and decision-making process.
Solidarity
The Kumarapalayam power-loom factory owners, however, have been able
to forestall labour militancy. De Neve ascribes this primarily to the
practice of "baki", according to which employers give cash advances
to workers during recruitment.
Since these cash advances are not of a generalised nature but based
on individual transactions, the employer-employee relationship in
Kumarapalayam's power-looms is highly individualised in nature.
"Individual strategies of negotiation," instead of collective
resistance, became the hallmark of everyday labour politics. The
consequent fragmentation of the labour force has created new forms of
"labour bondage."
Labour politics in the dyeing industry is significantly different.
Till the 1970s, the workforce was here pre-eminently drawn from the
Vanniyars. Subsequently, an entrepreneurial section amongst them
became "factory owners and job workers." Since both the employers and
the employees belonged to the same community, caste, kin and
neighbourhood, solidarity determined labour relations in this
industry. But this caste integrity has not ensured security in the
labour market.
Role of caste
While kinship ties have gone against the employers' attempts to
impose labour discipline, the uncertain nature of employment in the
dyeing industry has forced the workers to maintain links with as many
employers of their caste as far as possible so that they can opt for
the best available job.
At the same time the employers have adopted "a discourse of caste and
kin morality" to create a symbiotic relationship of trust with the
workers, thus muting the possibility of collective working class
militancy. Besides, the upward mobility of some Vanniyars has created
class differentiation within what was once supposed to have been a
homogenous community.
In his conclusion, the author draws two broad generalisations from
his three case studies. Underlying the significance of caste as an
organising force in the restructured "informal sector politics", De
Neve contends that caste or kin ties in the informal sector of
contemporary India have not necessarily created divisions amongst the
workers, but have fomented unity and solidarity in various ways. At
the same time communities beyond caste or class boundaries are
constructed - however momentary their nature may be - around such
collective rituals or ceremonies, as during the annual goddess
celebration in Bhavani and Kumarapalayam.
Local employers patronise such festivals to win the loyalty of their
employees. The author also argues that upward caste mobility in the
informal sector - operating not through public support - offers new
modes of competitions amongst the traditional caste groups.
Emerging inequalities
De Neve's second generalisation that the informal economy remains the
only hope for improving the livelihood of India's subordinate social
groups may evoke a scholarly challenge. What is true in a particular
locality might not be valid at the macro level. Quantitative
parameters cannot also be the sole indicators of better living
standards.
Quality of life is an equally important constituent element of living
standard. One may recall the debate on the conditions of the English
working class in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution.
Besides, the three case studies in this work indicate gender and
other forms of class inequalities emerging out of what the author
celebrates - increasing opportunities of caste mobility and
modernisation of caste structures.
Nevertheless, the book has opened up possibilities of new discourses
on the impact of the informal sector on labour politics in India. The
work deserves to be recommended to any scholar interested in
contemporary Indian labour politics.
To join the Labour Notes South Asia Mailing List, send a blank message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lnsa/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
