Informal Labor, Formal Politics, and Dignified Discontent in India

ISBN-13: 9781107025721 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 272 str.

Rina Agarwala

Opis

Since the 1980s, the world's governments have decreased state welfare and thus increased the number of unprotected informal or precarious workers. As a result, more and more workers do not receive secure wages or benefits from either employers or the state. What are these workers doing to improve their livelihoods? Informal Labor, Formal Politics, and Dignified Discontent in India offers a fresh and provocative look into the alternative social movements informal workers in India are launching. It also offers a unique analysis of the conditions under which these movements succeed or fail. Drawing from 300 interviews with informal workers, government officials, and union leaders, Rina Agarwala argues that Indian informal workers are using their power as voters to demand welfare benefits (such as education, housing, and healthcare) from the state, rather than demanding traditional work benefits (such as minimum wages and job security) from employers. In addition, they are organizing at the neighborhood level, rather than the shop floor, and appealing to citizenship, rather than labor rights. Agarwala concludes that movements are most successful when operating under parties that compete for mass votes and support economic liberalization (even populist parties), and are least successful when operating under non-competitive electoral contexts (even those tied to communist parties)."

Recenzje

'This study of informal workers in urban India comes at an ideal time as the country undergoes rapid economic and social change. In addition, the rich, qualitative evidence that Agarwala has carefully gleaned through semi-structured interviews and participant observation stands as a model for students of labor politics. Those interested in understanding the politics of labor, social welfare, and state-society relations in contemporary India will find this book immensely rewarding.' Akshay Mangla, Industrial and Labor Relations Review

Spis treści

1. Introduction: informal workers' movements and the state; 2. Struggling with informality; 3. The success of competitive populism; 4. Communism's resistance to change; 5. Why accommodation leads to minimal gains; 6. Conclusion: dignifying discontent.