The Absence of Decent Work: The Continued Development of Forced and Unfree Labour in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/glj.v6i2.2344Abstract
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has developed a concept of decent work and set this as a standard in 1999. However, in many places in the world people labour under conditions that are far from ‘decent’. Many people are subject to forced labour and experience unfreedoms, which raises important theoretical and practical issues. In this contribution we set out some of the ways in which forced labour manifests and how it has been changing over recent years in India. India is of particular interest because, according to the ILO, Asia, and India within Asia, has more victims of forced labour than any other region. India illustrates that specific structures of social relations underpin one’s vulnerability to becoming a victim of forced labour. It illustrates also that forms of forced labour integrate into and develop within capitalism. Although neo-liberal policy prescriptions are formally opposed to forced labour, the neo-liberal capitalist system also facilitates its reproduction and spread.
References
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Bachman, S. L. (2000). A New Economics of Child Labor: Searching for answers behind the headlines. Journal of International Affairs, 53( 2), 545-572.
Banaji, Jairus (2003) ‘The fictions of free labour: contract, coercion, and so-called unfree labour’, Historical Materialism 11(3): 65-95
Banerjee, B and Knight, J. (1985) ‘Caste discrimination in the India urban labour market’, Journal of Development Economics 17(3): 277-307
Barrientos, S. (2011) ‘Labour chains’: analysing the role of labour contractors in global production networks’, Brookings World Poverty Institute Working Paper 153 Manchester: University of Manchester
Bateman, M and Chang, H (2012) ‘Microfinance and the illusion of development: From hubris to nemesis in thirty years’, World Economic Review 1(1): 13-36
BBA; Bachpan Bachao Andolan (2012) Child labour Free India Initiative http://www.bba.org.in
Belser, P. (2005) ‘Forced labour and human trafficking: estimating the profits’, Geneva: ILO
Bhandari, Rakesh (2008) ‘The disguises of wage labour: juridical illusions unfree conditions and novel extensions’, Historical Materialism 16(1): 71-99
Bhatia, Bela (2012) ‘Of human bondage in Baran, Rajasthan’, Economic & Political Weekly 47(26-27): 159-169
Bloom, David (2011) ‘Population Dynamics in India and Implications for Economic Growth’, in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
Brass, Tom (1999) Towards a comparative political economy of unfree labour: Case studies and debates London: Routledge
--(2002) ‘Rural labour in agrarian transitions: the semi-feudal thesis revisited’, Journal of Contemporary Asia 32(4): 456-473
-- (2009) Capitalist Unfree Labour: a contradiction?’ Critical Sociology 35(6): 743-765
Bremen, Jan (2007) Labour Bondage in West India: From Past to Present Oxford: Oxford University Press
Chandramouli, C. (2012) ‘Housing, Household Amenities and Assets – Key Results from Census 2011’, Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India; censusindia.gov.in
Cohen, Gerald (1995) Self Ownership, Freedom and Equality Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Conrad, A and Meyer, J. (1958) ‘The economics of slavery in the ante bellum South’, The Journal of Political Economy 66(2): 95-127
Corbridge, Stuart, Harriss, John and Jeffrey, Craig (2012) India Today Cambridge: Polity
Crabtree, James (2012) ‘India’s growth threatened by old abuses’, Financial Times May 15th
Deshingkar, Priya (2008) ‘Circular internal migration and development in India’, in Dewind, Josh and Holdaway, Jennifer eds. Migration and Development Within and Across Borders: Research and Policy Perspectives on Internal and International Migration New York: Social Science Research Council
Dev, Mahendra and Venkatanarayana, M. (2011) ‘Youth unemployment and Unemployment in India’, Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai; Mimeo.
Flodman-Becker, Kistina (2004) ‘The informal economy’, Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency; Department for Infrastructure and Economic Cooperation; mimeo
Fogel R. and Engerman S. (1974) Time on the Cross, Volume 1: The Economics of Negro Slvaery London: Wildwood
Folbre, Nancy (2001) The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values New York: New Press
Geurin, I. Kumar, S. Agier, I. (2013) ‘Women’s empowerment: power to act or power over other women? Lessons from Indian Microfinance’, Oxford Development Studies 41(1): 1-19
Geurin, I. Ponnarasu, S. Venkatasubramanian, G. Michiels, S. (2012) ‘Ambiguities and paradoxes of the decent work deficit: Bonded migrants in Tamil Nadu’, Global Labour Journal 3(1): 118-142
Ghai, D. ed. (2006) Decent Work: Objectives and Strategies Geneva: ILO
Haddad, Lawrence (2009) ‘Lifting the curse: overcoming persistent under-nutrition in India’, IDS Bulletin 40(4): 1-8
Hardgrave, Robert and Kochanek, Stanley (2008) India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation Boston MA: Thomson; Seventh Edition
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----(2003) India Working Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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Harriss-White, B. Vera Sanso P and V. Suresh 2010, ‘The Experience of Slum Dwellers in Chennai under the Economic and Environmental Insults of 2008-9’ Work in Press Paper no 4 CSASP, SIAS Oxford http://www.southasia.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/36587/Oxford_University_CSASP_-_Work_in_Progress_Paper_4.pdf
IFPRI (2011) 2011 Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger, Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Volatility IFPRI
Issue Brief 69, October.
ILO, (2002) ‘Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy’, Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2005) A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Global report under the follow-up to the ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work 2005 Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2009) The Cost of Coercion: Global Report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work International Labour Conference, 98th Session 2009 Report I(B), Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2012a) Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and Methodology Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2012b) A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour and Trafficking in Persons Geneva: ILO
ILO (2014) Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour Geneva: ILO
Jain, Subhash ed. (2006) Emerging Economies and the Transformation of International Business: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS)Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Keshri, Kunal and Bhagat, Ram (2010) ‘Temporary and seasonal migration in India’, Genus: Journal of Population Sciences 66(3): 25-45
Kochar, Anjini (2011) ‘Reforming Primary and Secondary Schooling’, in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
Lerche, Jens (2007) ‘A global alliance against forced labour? Unfree labour, Neo-Liberal globalization and the International Labour Organization’, Journal of Agrarian Change 7(4): 425-452
Lyons, J. Cain, L. and Williamson, S. eds. (2008) Reflections on the Cliometrics Revolution London: Routledge
Morgan, Jamie and Olsen, Wendy (2014) ‘Forced and unfree labur: an analysis’, International Critical Thought 4(1): 21-37
Morgan, Jamie and Olsen, Wendy (2011a) ‘Aspiration problems for the Indian rural poor: research on self-help groups and micro-finance’, Capital & Class 35(2): 189-212
----- (2011b) ‘Conceptual issues in institutional economics: clarifying the fluidity of rules’, Journal of Institutional Economics 7(3): 425-454. DOI 10.1017/S1744137410000299.
Narayana, Kurupati (2011) ‘Causes and Consequences of Microfinance Crisis in India (A diagnostic analysis of MFI episode of AP)’, Mimeo, Dept of Economics, Kakatiya University, Andhra Pradesh, India
Olsen W. K. (1996) Rural Indian Social Relations, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
Olsen, Wendy (2009a), ‘Non-Nested and Nested Cases in a Socio-Economic Village Study,’ chapter in D. Byrne and C. Ragin, eds. (2009), Handbook of Case-Centred Research Methods, London: Sage.
Olsen, Wendy (2009b) Beyond Sociology: Structure, Agency, and Strategy Among Tenants in India, Asian Journal of Social Science, 37:3, 366-390.
Olsen, Wendy, and Morgan Jamie (2010) ‘Institutional change from within the informal sector in Indian rural labour relations’, International Review of Sociology 20 (3), 535-555. DOI:10.1080/03906701.2010.51190.
Olsen, Wendy, and Samantha Watson (2011), “Informality and Institutional Change in Child Labour: An Indian Case Study”, conference paper, the Second Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work network, International Labour Office, Geneva.
Palmer, Eric (2011) ‘The Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Crisis and American Payday Loans: a comparative ethical study’, ssrn 1855013.
Phillips, Nicola (2011) ‘Informality, global production networks and dynamics of adverse incorporation’, Global Networks 11(3): 380-397
Rao, Mohan (1999) ‘Freedom, equality, property and Bentham: the debate over unfree labour’, Journal of Peasant Studies 27(1): 97-127
Reddy, Bhim, and W.K. Olsen (2012). “Adaptation of the Rural Working Class in India: A case study of migrant workers”, chapter 8 in D. Clark, ed., Adaptation, Poverty and Development: The Dynamics of Subjective Well-Being, Palgrave Macmillan, 181-214.
Scoville, J. (2002) ‘Segmentation in the market for child labour – the economics of child labour revisited’, American Journal of Economics and Sociology 61(3): 713-723
Singh, V. and Mitra, S. (2009) ‘Regulatory Management and Reform in India’, OECD Background Paper, http://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/44925979.pdf
Skirivankova, K. (2010) ‘Between decent work and forced labour: examining the continuum of exploitation’, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Strauss, Kendra (2012) ‘Coerced, forced and unfree labour: geographies of exploitation in contemporary labour markets’, Geography Compass 6(3) 137-148
Sunder, Shyam (2011) ‘Higher Education Reform’ in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
United Nations (1957) ‘Section I: Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery’ pp 41-42 in Supplementary Convention On the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, UN Treaty Series volume 266 http://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/UNTS/Volume%20266/v266.pdf
US Department of State (2011) Trafficking in Persons Report: June 2011 Washington DC
Venkateshwarlu, K. (2007) ‘Over 4 Lakh Children Work in Cotton Seed Farms. ‘ Obtained Oct. 2007 from
(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/01/stories/2007100155400700.htm)
Venkateswarlu, Davuluri and L. da Corta (2001) ‘Transformations in Age and Gender of Unfree Workers on Hybrid Cottonseed Farms in Andhra Pradesh, Journal of Peasant Studies, 28 (3): 1-36
Verma, V. (1998) ‘Exploitation and justice – should we be interested in a theory of exploitation?’ Economic & Political Weekly 33(3): 115-121
Walk Free (2013) ‘The Global Slavery Index Report 2013’ available: http://www.globalslaveryindex.org
Weiner, Myron, Burra, Neera and Bajpai, Asha (2006) Born Unfree: Child Labour, Education and the State in India Oxford: Oxford University Press
Wells, T. (2014) ‘Recovering Adam Smith’s ethical economics’, Real World Economics Review 68: 90-97
Wilkinson, Mick, Gary Craig and Aline Gaus (2009) ‘Forced labour in the UK and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority’, Contemporary Slavery Research Centre (CRSC) The Wilberforce Institute, University of Hull, UK
World Bank (2012) ‘Poverty Headcount Ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population)’
Bachman, S. L. (2000). A New Economics of Child Labor: Searching for answers behind the headlines. Journal of International Affairs, 53( 2), 545-572.
Banaji, Jairus (2003) ‘The fictions of free labour: contract, coercion, and so-called unfree labour’, Historical Materialism 11(3): 65-95
Banerjee, B and Knight, J. (1985) ‘Caste discrimination in the India urban labour market’, Journal of Development Economics 17(3): 277-307
Barrientos, S. (2011) ‘Labour chains’: analysing the role of labour contractors in global production networks’, Brookings World Poverty Institute Working Paper 153 Manchester: University of Manchester
Bateman, M and Chang, H (2012) ‘Microfinance and the illusion of development: From hubris to nemesis in thirty years’, World Economic Review 1(1): 13-36
BBA; Bachpan Bachao Andolan (2012) Child labour Free India Initiative http://www.bba.org.in
Belser, P. (2005) ‘Forced labour and human trafficking: estimating the profits’, Geneva: ILO
Bhandari, Rakesh (2008) ‘The disguises of wage labour: juridical illusions unfree conditions and novel extensions’, Historical Materialism 16(1): 71-99
Bhatia, Bela (2012) ‘Of human bondage in Baran, Rajasthan’, Economic & Political Weekly 47(26-27): 159-169
Bloom, David (2011) ‘Population Dynamics in India and Implications for Economic Growth’, in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
Brass, Tom (1999) Towards a comparative political economy of unfree labour: Case studies and debates London: Routledge
--(2002) ‘Rural labour in agrarian transitions: the semi-feudal thesis revisited’, Journal of Contemporary Asia 32(4): 456-473
-- (2009) Capitalist Unfree Labour: a contradiction?’ Critical Sociology 35(6): 743-765
Bremen, Jan (2007) Labour Bondage in West India: From Past to Present Oxford: Oxford University Press
Chandramouli, C. (2012) ‘Housing, Household Amenities and Assets – Key Results from Census 2011’, Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India; censusindia.gov.in
Cohen, Gerald (1995) Self Ownership, Freedom and Equality Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Conrad, A and Meyer, J. (1958) ‘The economics of slavery in the ante bellum South’, The Journal of Political Economy 66(2): 95-127
Corbridge, Stuart, Harriss, John and Jeffrey, Craig (2012) India Today Cambridge: Polity
Crabtree, James (2012) ‘India’s growth threatened by old abuses’, Financial Times May 15th
Deshingkar, Priya (2008) ‘Circular internal migration and development in India’, in Dewind, Josh and Holdaway, Jennifer eds. Migration and Development Within and Across Borders: Research and Policy Perspectives on Internal and International Migration New York: Social Science Research Council
Dev, Mahendra and Venkatanarayana, M. (2011) ‘Youth unemployment and Unemployment in India’, Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai; Mimeo.
Flodman-Becker, Kistina (2004) ‘The informal economy’, Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency; Department for Infrastructure and Economic Cooperation; mimeo
Fogel R. and Engerman S. (1974) Time on the Cross, Volume 1: The Economics of Negro Slvaery London: Wildwood
Folbre, Nancy (2001) The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values New York: New Press
Geurin, I. Kumar, S. Agier, I. (2013) ‘Women’s empowerment: power to act or power over other women? Lessons from Indian Microfinance’, Oxford Development Studies 41(1): 1-19
Geurin, I. Ponnarasu, S. Venkatasubramanian, G. Michiels, S. (2012) ‘Ambiguities and paradoxes of the decent work deficit: Bonded migrants in Tamil Nadu’, Global Labour Journal 3(1): 118-142
Ghai, D. ed. (2006) Decent Work: Objectives and Strategies Geneva: ILO
Haddad, Lawrence (2009) ‘Lifting the curse: overcoming persistent under-nutrition in India’, IDS Bulletin 40(4): 1-8
Hardgrave, Robert and Kochanek, Stanley (2008) India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation Boston MA: Thomson; Seventh Edition
Harriss-White, Barbara (1996) ‘Liberalisation and corruption’, IDS Bulletin 27(2): 31-39
----(2003) India Working Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Harriss-White, Barbara, Olsen, Wendy, Vera-Sanso, Penny and Suresh, V. ‘The impact of shocks on workers in urban slums in South India’, submitted paper. An online version is Olsen W.K.,
Harriss-White, B. Vera Sanso P and V. Suresh 2010, ‘The Experience of Slum Dwellers in Chennai under the Economic and Environmental Insults of 2008-9’ Work in Press Paper no 4 CSASP, SIAS Oxford http://www.southasia.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/36587/Oxford_University_CSASP_-_Work_in_Progress_Paper_4.pdf
IFPRI (2011) 2011 Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger, Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Volatility IFPRI
Issue Brief 69, October.
ILO, (2002) ‘Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy’, Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2005) A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour: Global report under the follow-up to the ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work 2005 Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2009) The Cost of Coercion: Global Report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work International Labour Conference, 98th Session 2009 Report I(B), Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2012a) Global Estimate of Forced Labour: Results and Methodology Geneva: ILO
ILO, (2012b) A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour and Trafficking in Persons Geneva: ILO
ILO (2014) Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour Geneva: ILO
Jain, Subhash ed. (2006) Emerging Economies and the Transformation of International Business: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS)Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Keshri, Kunal and Bhagat, Ram (2010) ‘Temporary and seasonal migration in India’, Genus: Journal of Population Sciences 66(3): 25-45
Kochar, Anjini (2011) ‘Reforming Primary and Secondary Schooling’, in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
Lerche, Jens (2007) ‘A global alliance against forced labour? Unfree labour, Neo-Liberal globalization and the International Labour Organization’, Journal of Agrarian Change 7(4): 425-452
Lyons, J. Cain, L. and Williamson, S. eds. (2008) Reflections on the Cliometrics Revolution London: Routledge
Morgan, Jamie and Olsen, Wendy (2014) ‘Forced and unfree labur: an analysis’, International Critical Thought 4(1): 21-37
Morgan, Jamie and Olsen, Wendy (2011a) ‘Aspiration problems for the Indian rural poor: research on self-help groups and micro-finance’, Capital & Class 35(2): 189-212
----- (2011b) ‘Conceptual issues in institutional economics: clarifying the fluidity of rules’, Journal of Institutional Economics 7(3): 425-454. DOI 10.1017/S1744137410000299.
Narayana, Kurupati (2011) ‘Causes and Consequences of Microfinance Crisis in India (A diagnostic analysis of MFI episode of AP)’, Mimeo, Dept of Economics, Kakatiya University, Andhra Pradesh, India
Olsen W. K. (1996) Rural Indian Social Relations, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
Olsen, Wendy (2009a), ‘Non-Nested and Nested Cases in a Socio-Economic Village Study,’ chapter in D. Byrne and C. Ragin, eds. (2009), Handbook of Case-Centred Research Methods, London: Sage.
Olsen, Wendy (2009b) Beyond Sociology: Structure, Agency, and Strategy Among Tenants in India, Asian Journal of Social Science, 37:3, 366-390.
Olsen, Wendy, and Morgan Jamie (2010) ‘Institutional change from within the informal sector in Indian rural labour relations’, International Review of Sociology 20 (3), 535-555. DOI:10.1080/03906701.2010.51190.
Olsen, Wendy, and Samantha Watson (2011), “Informality and Institutional Change in Child Labour: An Indian Case Study”, conference paper, the Second Conference of the Regulating for Decent Work network, International Labour Office, Geneva.
Palmer, Eric (2011) ‘The Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Crisis and American Payday Loans: a comparative ethical study’, ssrn 1855013.
Phillips, Nicola (2011) ‘Informality, global production networks and dynamics of adverse incorporation’, Global Networks 11(3): 380-397
Rao, Mohan (1999) ‘Freedom, equality, property and Bentham: the debate over unfree labour’, Journal of Peasant Studies 27(1): 97-127
Reddy, Bhim, and W.K. Olsen (2012). “Adaptation of the Rural Working Class in India: A case study of migrant workers”, chapter 8 in D. Clark, ed., Adaptation, Poverty and Development: The Dynamics of Subjective Well-Being, Palgrave Macmillan, 181-214.
Scoville, J. (2002) ‘Segmentation in the market for child labour – the economics of child labour revisited’, American Journal of Economics and Sociology 61(3): 713-723
Singh, V. and Mitra, S. (2009) ‘Regulatory Management and Reform in India’, OECD Background Paper, http://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/44925979.pdf
Skirivankova, K. (2010) ‘Between decent work and forced labour: examining the continuum of exploitation’, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Strauss, Kendra (2012) ‘Coerced, forced and unfree labour: geographies of exploitation in contemporary labour markets’, Geography Compass 6(3) 137-148
Sunder, Shyam (2011) ‘Higher Education Reform’ in Ghate, Chetan, ed. The Handbook of the Indian Economy Oxford: Oxford University Press
United Nations (1957) ‘Section I: Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery’ pp 41-42 in Supplementary Convention On the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, UN Treaty Series volume 266 http://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/UNTS/Volume%20266/v266.pdf
US Department of State (2011) Trafficking in Persons Report: June 2011 Washington DC
Venkateshwarlu, K. (2007) ‘Over 4 Lakh Children Work in Cotton Seed Farms. ‘ Obtained Oct. 2007 from
(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/01/stories/2007100155400700.htm)
Venkateswarlu, Davuluri and L. da Corta (2001) ‘Transformations in Age and Gender of Unfree Workers on Hybrid Cottonseed Farms in Andhra Pradesh, Journal of Peasant Studies, 28 (3): 1-36
Verma, V. (1998) ‘Exploitation and justice – should we be interested in a theory of exploitation?’ Economic & Political Weekly 33(3): 115-121
Walk Free (2013) ‘The Global Slavery Index Report 2013’ available: http://www.globalslaveryindex.org
Weiner, Myron, Burra, Neera and Bajpai, Asha (2006) Born Unfree: Child Labour, Education and the State in India Oxford: Oxford University Press
Wells, T. (2014) ‘Recovering Adam Smith’s ethical economics’, Real World Economics Review 68: 90-97
Wilkinson, Mick, Gary Craig and Aline Gaus (2009) ‘Forced labour in the UK and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority’, Contemporary Slavery Research Centre (CRSC) The Wilberforce Institute, University of Hull, UK
World Bank (2012) ‘Poverty Headcount Ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population)’
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