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The afterlife of industrial work: Urban-to-rural labour transitions from the factory to the informal economy

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  • Alessandra Mezzadri
  • Kaustav Banerjee

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated processes of labour transition from industrial work to the informal economy, which have always characterized the life of the working poor. Exploring urban-to-rural labour transitions through a feminist political economy lens and adopting a life-cycle approach to labour and social reproduction, this paper analyses the post-industrial livelihoods and experiences of former Indian garment workers leaving the National Capital Region and moving back to Bihar.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-158
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-158-afterlife-undustrial-work-urban-rural-labour-transitions-factory-informal-economy.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cowan, Thomas, 2018. "The urban village, agrarian transformation, and rentier capitalism in Gurgaon, India," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 89699, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sara Stevano & Alessandra Mezzadri & Lorena Lombardozzi & Hannah Bargawi, 2021. "Hidden Abodes in Plain Sight: the Social Reproduction of Households and Labor in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 271-287, April.
    3. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2016. "Class, gender and the sweatshop: on the nexus between labour commodification and exploitation," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1877-1900, October.
    4. Breman, Jan, 2013. "At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198090342.
    5. Stephanie Ware Barrientos, 2013. "'Labour Chains': Analysing the Role of Labour Contractors in Global Production Networks," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1058-1071, August.
    6. Mezzadri,Alessandra, 2017. "The Sweatshop Regime," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107116962, November.
    7. Jeemol Unni & Suma Scaria, 2010. "Government Structure and Labour Market Outcomes in Garment Embellishment Chains," Working Papers id:3061, eSocialSciences.
    8. Dibyendu Maiti & Kunal Sen, 2010. "The Informal Sector in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Feminist economics; Political economy; Social reproduction; Informal sector; Labour dynamics; Livelihoods; Life cycle;
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