Forms of Resistances to Bondage

Objectives

Labour Bondage, far from being only a survival of traditions, is a current form of labour, which adapts to neo-liberal politics lead in India since 20 years. Those forms of labour have disappeared from some sectors while reappearing in others, giving rise to new forms of exploitations. From rude exploitation and total absence of freedom to protection and employment guarantee, the process of servitude is a multidimensional one, with social, cultural and economic aspects overlapping. It offers numerous variations in times and spaces and varies from sectors to sectors. Some of the common figures are the absence of trade unions and the non application of labour laws.

The transformations of social labour relationships in India, including bondage, are the main point of our researches. The focus on bondage relationships is crucial, as the transformations of patronage relationships seem to lead to new forms of bondage where forms of protection decline. For labourers, the alternatives are scarce: everyday insecurity, absence of social protection lead, in some cases, to a greater exploitation in a context of informalisation of the economy.

However, in other cases, some groups could have benefited from this and enjoy a somewhat social ascension.

Forms of resistance to bondage include the everyday forms of open protestation, conflict, negotiation and silent forms of resistance. Furthermore, international agencies, NGO’s, media give an increasing attention to those for of exploitation. Diverse programs have been implemented, focusing on “liberation” of bonded labourers, spectacular way to attract media. In the long term, it does not seem to bring any perspectives. The focus on debt and its reimbursement by those agencies, without attention to its social dimension, lead to a deadlock, as labourers return to bondage relationships after their “liberation”.

Above all, we consider that bondage relationships should also be studied in relation to other forms of labour, as in some cases, those forms do overlap through kinship, friendship, caste and class relationships. The aim of this workshop is to bring light on forms of resistance to bondage, be it individuals or collectives, coming from labourers or external organisations.

We propose here to overlap two perspectives:

• at the micro level: ethnographical analysis of labour experiences, of bondage and labour relationships;
• at the macro level: analysis of the consequences of politics of globalisation on labour bondage; presuppositions and impact of labour laws and actions against bondage.

Organizers

Workshop proposed by the French Institute of Pondicherry and organized by Réseau Asie - IMASIE (CNRS, Institut des Mondes Asiatiques).

Coordinator

• Isabelle Guérin (French Institute of Pondicherry / IRD)
• David Picherit (French Institute of Pondicherry / Paris 10, Nanterre)

Speakers

• Jan Breman (University of Amsterdam)
• Prabhu Mohapatra (Delhi University)
• David Picherit (French Institute of Pondicherry / Paris 10, Nanterre)

Venue

3rd Congress of the Réseau Asie - IMASIE (CNRS, Institut des Mondes Asiatiques), Maison de la Chimie, Paris 6