Informal Agricultural Work, Habitus and Practices in an Indian Context

This paper examines recent employment practices among 39 families of Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, India. A social class analysis offers a starting point for the study of employment contracts. Employment practices are diverse, but the habitus of the employers and employees sometimes clashes with their practices. Resolving this paradox requires recognising that action is not deterministically caused; there is a structure-agency dynamic. The transformational model of social action offers a broad framework for studying variations in real practices. Five persons' case studies are offered. We utilise evidence that is available for re-analysis in our q-squared database (see http://www.q-squared.ca/ for a general introduction; and www.ruralvisits.org for samples). Strategies of manipulation, threat/reward, and secret power are used to empower different types of agents. By adding a structural analysis of dominant patterns, we find that particular divergences from predicted behaviours are very telling. Both semi-structured and structured interviews were used to learn about the situation.In this context the Employment Guarantee Scheme has created extra local paid work. It pays nominally equal wages for men and women. The strategic and middle-term effects of the scheme in Andhra Pradesh are hard to predict. Because of the emergent effects of EGS, new labour market patterns are to be expected in this area. The area already has a history of high women's labour-force involvement, and women locally are strongly involved in cow-owning using bank micro-finance. Therefore further innovations in labour relations of the rural capitalism are to be expected.