IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v31y2017i6p921-936.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resisting labour control and optimizing social ties: experiences of women construction workers in Delhi

Author

Listed:
  • Sakshi Khurana

    (NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), India)

Abstract

Even as employment in the construction industry in India has grown in recent decades, economic insecurities of workers persist. The existing forms of work and labour control, embedded in capitalist and patriarchal relations, are significant for women’s ability to question or resist their conditions of work. To understand the relations among workers and between workers and contractors/employers, this study draws on Scott’s idea of the ‘moral economy’. I argue in this article that in the absence of formal or legal contracts between workers and contractors, women are led to mobilize on their social capital or their valued relations with contractors and co-workers. Women’s responses to their situation may not demonstrate a strong articulation of exploitation in class or feminist terms, but their political sense is informed by ideas of morality and reciprocity in relationships. Their resistance could be strengthened when they collectively act with workers in a similar situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Sakshi Khurana, 2017. "Resisting labour control and optimizing social ties: experiences of women construction workers in Delhi," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(6), pages 921-936, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:6:p:921-936
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017016651396
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017016651396
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017016651396?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Breman, Jan, 2010. "Neo-Bondage: A Fieldwork-Based Account," International Labor and Working-Class History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(1), pages 48-62, October.
    2. Carr, Marilyn. & Chen, Martha Alter., 2004. "Globalization, social exclusion and work : with special reference to informal employment and gender," ILO Working Papers 993698513402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. Carr, Marilyn. & Chen, Martha Alter., 2002. "Globalization and the informal economy : how global trade and investment impact on the working poor," ILO Working Papers 993541723402676, International Labour Organization.
    4. Marilyn CARR & Martha CHEN, 2004. "Globalization, social exclusion and gender," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 143(1-2), pages 129-160, March.
    5. repec:ilo:ilowps:354172 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Srivastava, Ravi S., 2005. "Bonded labour in India : its incidence and pattern," ILO Working Papers 993779363402676, International Labour Organization.
    7. repec:ilo:ilowps:369851 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:ilo:ilowps:377936 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shaianne T. Osterreich, 2019. "Gender and Comparative Advantage: Feminist–Heterodox Theorizing about Globalization," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Dejardin, Amelita King., 2009. "Gender (in)equality, globalization and governance," ILO Working Papers 994327273402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. Popli, Gurleen K., 2010. "Trade Liberalization and the Self-Employed in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 803-813, June.
    4. Colin C Williams & Youssef Youssef, 2013. "Evaluating The Gender Variations In Informal Sector Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Brazil," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(01), pages 1-16.
    5. Saniye Dedeoğlu, 2010. "Visible Hands - Invisible Women: Garment Production in Turkey," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 1-32.
    6. Lyons, Michal & Brown, Alison, 2010. "Has Mercantilism Reduced Urban Poverty in SSA? Perception of Boom, Bust, and the China-Africa Trade in Lomé and Bamako," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 771-782, May.
    7. Tanu Priya Uteng & Jeff Turner, 2019. "Addressing the Linkages between Gender and Transport in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-34, August.
    8. repec:ilo:ilowps:432727 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Colin C Williams & Anjula Gurtoo, 2011. "Evaluating Women Entrepreneurs In The Informal Sector: Some Evidence From India," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(03), pages 351-369.
    10. Ndoya, Hermann & Okere, Donald & Belomo, Marie laure & Atangana, Melissa, 2023. "Does ICTs decrease the spread of informal economy in Africa?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    11. Meagher, Kate, 2019. "Working in chains: African informal workers and global value chains," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91590, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Diaz-Bonilla, Carolina & Robinson, Sherman & Lofgren, Hans & Ahmed, Hashim A., 2006. "Growth Strategies to Reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Ethiopia," Conference papers 331522, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    13. Ogunyemi, Oluwole Ibikunle & Adedokun, Adebayo Sunday, 2014. "Towards West-Africa regional economic integration: Formalizing the informal sector," Conference papers 332450, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    14. Plank, Leonhard & Rossi, Arianna & Staritz, Cornelia, 2012. "Workers and social upgrading in "fast fashion": The case of the apparel industry in Morocco and Romania," Working Papers 33, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    15. Laís ABRAMO & Maria Elena VALENZUELA, 2005. "Women's labour force participation rates in Latin America," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 144(4), pages 369-400, December.
    16. Maureen Were, 2011. "Is There a Link Between Casual Employment and Export-Orientation of Firms? The Case of Kenya’s Manufacturing Sector," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 227-242, September.
    17. Elgin, Ceyhun & Oyvat, Cem, 2013. "Lurking in the cities: Urbanization and the informal economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 36-47.
    18. Andrees, Beate. & Nasri, Alix. & Swiniarski, Peter., 2015. "Regulating labour recruitment to prevent human trafficking and to foster fair migration : models, challenges and opportunities," ILO Working Papers 994880853402676, International Labour Organization.
    19. Nicole S. Bernhardt, 2015. "Racialized Precarious Employment and the Inadequacies of the Canadian Welfare State," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, April.
    20. Thomas Chambers & Ayesha Ansari, 2018. "Ghar Mein KÄ m Hai (There is Work in the House)," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 13(2), pages 141-163, August.
    21. Sunit Singh & Rama Charan Tripathi, 2010. "Why Do the Bonded Fear Freedom?," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 22(2), pages 249-297, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:31:y:2017:i:6:p:921-936. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.