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Domestic workers and the challenges of collectivization: labor NGOs, neighborhoods, apartment complexes

Author

Listed:
  • Rajesh Joseph

    (Azim Premji University)

  • Balmurli Natrajan

    (Azim Premji University
    William Paterson University of New Jersey)

  • Roshni Lobo

    (Azim Premji University)

Abstract

This paper is a critical commentary on the organizational challenges for collectivization of domestic workers (DWs) who constitute a core part of India’s informal economy. Building upon field research among DWs working in a mega-city and in multiple homes, we explore three challenges—the transformation of labor NGOs to ‘unions,’ the ‘place’ of the union and the ‘place’ of the worker in organizing DWs. While the first challenge deals with the form of the collective that best enables the transformation of subjectivity and consciousness of DWs from ‘servant’ to ‘worker,’ the latter two emerge from the structure of work of DWs—the fact that they are dispersed among multiple employers, and the possibilities offered by large apartment complexes for DW unions to work in concert with the state to guarantee worker rights.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajesh Joseph & Balmurli Natrajan & Roshni Lobo, 2019. "Domestic workers and the challenges of collectivization: labor NGOs, neighborhoods, apartment complexes," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 46(2), pages 99-109, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:decisn:v:46:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s40622-019-00211-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s40622-019-00211-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Resnick, Stephen A. & Wolff, Richard D., 1989. "Knowledge and Class," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226710235, September.
    2. Mubashira Zaidi & Anweshaa Ghosh & Shraddha Chigateri, 2016. "Locating the Processes of Policy Change in the Context of Anti-Rape and Domestic Worker Mobilisations in India," Working Papers id:10647, eSocialSciences.
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