Labour in South Asia

Objectives

The acceleration of the politics of globalisation and neo-liberal programs in India has led to many debates on a macro perspective. The effects on the politics of labour, such as the processes of casualisation of the economy, reminds of the urgency to tackle the task of studying labour, on a broad perspective. The workshop intended to give space to a dialogue between anthropologists, economists, sociologists, historians, political scientists and geographers, on labour relationships in general and forms of bondage in particular.

Beyond the classical dichotomies (formal-informal, modernity-tradition, free-unfree, urban-rural…), the workshop intended to explore the diversity and the complexity of the politics of labour, through detailed ethnographies and theoretical approach.

Format

Two sessions were held:

• The first session focused on labour characteristics, in South Asia. Key questions such as identities, solidarities and middlemen concerning this force, were discussed.
• The second session dealt with the concepts of Evolution of labour “markets”, commodity chains and solidarity mechanisms.

Program schedule

Consult detailed schedule

Organizers

French Institute of Pondicherry, India

Partnership

• Institute of Research and Development, Paris, France
• Institute for Human Development, Delhi, India
• International Labour Organisation Geneva / Delhi

Funding

• French Institute of Pondicherry, India
• Institute de Recherche et Développement (IRD), Paris, France
• International Labour Organisation, Geneva/Delhi
• Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, France

Participants

Session 1

• Jan Breman, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Geert De Neve, University of Sussex, England
• Vijay Gudavarthy, University of hyderabad, India
• Djallal Heuze, EHESS, France
• Judith Heyer, Oxford University, England
• Celina Jauzelon, EHESS, France
• Surinder S. Jodhka, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
• Karin Kapadia, anthropologist
• Prabhu Mohapatra, Delhi university, India
• David Picherit, Institut Francais de Pondicherry/ Université Paris X, India
• Camilla Roman, Oxford St Anthony, England
• M.V Srinivasan, NCERT/Delhi, India
• Sarkar Swagato, Oxford St Anthony, England

organizer: david.picherit@ifpindia.org

Session 2

• Prakash Aseem, IHD, India
• Sharit Bhowmik, University of Mumbai, India
• Jan Breman, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Craig Churchill, ILO, Switzerland
• Hariz Gazdar, Pakistan University, Pakistan
• Isabelle Guerin, IFP/IRD, France
• Smita Gupta, IHD, India
• M.A. Kalam, University of Madras
• Kamala Marius-Gnanou, University of Bordeaux, France
• Julian Parr, ILO, India
• D.Narshima Reddy, Hyderabad University, India
• Marc Roesch, French Institute of Pondicherry, India
• Alakh Sharma, IHD, India
• Manjit Singh, Panjab University, India
• Venkatasubramanian, FIP, India

organizers: isabelle.guerin@ifpindia.org, marc.roesch@ifpindia.org