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At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up

Author

Listed:
  • Breman, Jan

    (Professor Emeritus and Fellow, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Informal labour translates as labour or employment that is not regular. Labour in the informal sector is casual, insecure, and unprotected. This book brings to light the plight of the landless and land-poor peasants in the informal economy in India. While discussing the labour being pushed out of agricultural production, Jan Breman contextualizes why, when, and how this transition occurred. The book is a result of anthropological fieldwork conducted in Gujarat-the state with the highest rate of economic growth-spanning over four decades. Although centred on one Indian state, thereby lacking a comparative frame, the author argues that India is the epicentre of the informal economy. Thus, the informal sector here has a wider relevance and greater validity. The book is divided into two parts. The first part covers the historical developments under capitalism, and contextualizes the deplorable condition of the unorganized workforce and the commodification of labour with the decline of agrarian bondage. The second part consists of author's ten previously published papers elaborating on themes and issues introduced in the first part of the book. This part also familiarizes the reader with the concept of informality and its ramifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Breman, Jan, 2013. "At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198090342.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780198090342
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gindo Tampubolan & Maria Fajarini, 2017. "A double-edged sword: technology, prosperity and inequality," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 142017, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Kasturi Sadhu & Saumya Chakrabarti, 2021. "Neo-Dualism: Accumulation, Distress, and Proliferation of a Fissured Informality," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 694-724, December.
    3. Nivedita Jayaram & Divya Varma, 2020. "Examining the ‘Labour’ in Labour Migration: Migrant Workers’ Informal Work Arrangements and Access to Labour Rights in Urban Sectors," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 999-1019, December.
    4. Christoph Scherrer, 2018. "The Disrupted Passage from an Agrarian Rural to an Industrial Urban Workforce in Most Countries in the Global South," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 7(3), pages 301-319, December.
    5. Kshitij Awasthi & Kiran Kumaraswamy & Natascia Boeri, 2021. "Helping when it matters: Optimal time for supporting women’s self‐employment in India," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(6), pages 971-989, November.
    6. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2016. "The informalization of capital and interlocking in labour contracting networks," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(2), pages 124-139, April.
    7. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2014. "Indian Garment Clusters and CSR Norms: Incompatible Agendas at the Bottom of the Garment Commodity Chain," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 238-258, June.
    8. Srivastava, Ravi, 2020. "Covid-19 and Circular Migration in India," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 10(1), July.
    9. Surendra Babu Talluri & Girish Balasubramanian & Santanu Sarkar, 2024. "Against the tide: A case of industrial relations transformation in the Indian coal sector," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 240-263, May.
    10. Sirisha C. Naidu & Lyn Ossome, 2018. "Work, Gender, and Immiseration in South Africa and India," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(2), pages 332-348, June.
    11. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2022. "The Social Reproduction of Pandemic Surplus Populations and Global Development Narratives on Inequality and Informal Labour," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(6), pages 1230-1253, November.
    12. Rolph van der Hoeven, 2018. "Employment and development in Asia," WIDER Working Paper Series 107, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Daniyar Baizakov & Anuarbek Kari, 2016. "Shadow Economic Activities: Assessment and Minimization Problems," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(4), pages 1515-1524.
    14. Christoph Scherrer, 2018. "Labour surplus is here to stay: why ‘decent work for all’ will remain elusive," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 20(2), pages 293-307, October.
    15. Crelis F Rammelt & Maggi Leung & Kebede Manjur Gebru, 2018. "The Exclusive Nature of Inclusive Productive Employment in the Rural Areas of Northern Ethiopia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(6), pages 1044-1060, December.
    16. Rolph van der Hoeven, 2018. "Employment and development in Asia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-107, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Arnaud Kaba & Shankare Gowda, 2021. "Of glass, skills and life: Craft consciousness among Firozabad’s glassworkers," Working Papers hal-03206522, HAL.
    18. Amrita Chhachhi & Amrita Chhachhi, 2014. "Introduction: The ‘Labour Question’ in Contemporary Capitalism," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(5), pages 895-919, September.
    19. Sumangala Damodaran, 2015. "The Chimera of Inclusive Growth: Informality, Poverty and Inequality in India in the Post-Reform Period," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(5), pages 1213-1224, September.
    20. Hao Qi & Zhongjin Li, 2020. "Putting Precarity Back to Production: A Case Study of Didi Kuaiche Drivers in the City of Nanjing, China," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 506-522, September.
    21. Jan Breman, 2020. "The Pandemic in India and Its Impact on Footloose Labour," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 901-919, December.
    22. Alessandra Mezzadri & Kaustav Banerjee, 2021. "The afterlife of industrial work: Urban-to-rural labour transitions from the factory to the informal economy," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-158, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. S. Mahendra Dev, 2018. "Inequality, Employment and Public Policy," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(1), pages 1-42, March.

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