IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijlaec/v64y2021i4d10.1007_s41027-021-00346-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Work Organisation Causing Precariousness? Insights from Textile Industry in South India

Author

Listed:
  • Nandini Ramamurthy

    (Tata Institute of Social Sciences)

Abstract

This article illustrates workers' precarity in the textile industry using economic and social upgrading, underscoring the difference in work organisations-buyer and supplier, reorganizing work, and applying socio-demographic features. The study uses exploratory-based framework to understand the root causes of precariousness in 12 suppliers' work organisations in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu. The research shows that intensity of economic upgrading is high across all suppliers' work organisation, which are, large, medium, small, micro, power table, collective self-help group (SHG) for women. The national buyers shields their behavior under the international buyers. Distinction in buyers practices could result in social upgrading, but suppliers' work organisation continue to extract profits and improve profit margin-exacerbating workers' precariat conditions. Analysis of the re-organisation of work and socio-demographic features probes into precarisation. The precariat spectrum depicts that suppliers' work organisation is the recipient of precarity, and the agents that transfer precariousness to the workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Nandini Ramamurthy, 2021. "Is Work Organisation Causing Precariousness? Insights from Textile Industry in South India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 1115-1134, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:64:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s41027-021-00346-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-021-00346-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41027-021-00346-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41027-021-00346-6?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Greg Distelhorst & Richard M. Locke, 2018. "Does Compliance Pay? Social Standards and Firm‐Level Trade," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(3), pages 695-711, July.
    2. Grimm, Jörg H. & Hofstetter, Joerg S. & Sarkis, Joseph, 2014. "Critical factors for sub-supplier management: A sustainable food supply chains perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 159-173.
    3. Chari, Sharad, 2000. "The Agrarian Origins of the Knitwear Industrial Cluster in Tiruppur, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 579-599, March.
    4. Gary Gereffi & Joonkoo Lee, 2016. "Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 25-38, January.
    5. Abhijit Banerjee & Kaivan Munshi, 2000. "Networks, Migration and Investment: Insiders and Outsiders in Tirupur's Production Cluster," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 313, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Janaka Wijayasiri & Jagath Dissanayake, 2008. "The Ending of the Multi-Fibre Agreement and Innovation in Sri Lankan Textile and Clothing Industry: Trade and Innovation Project - Case Study No. 3," OECD Trade Policy Papers 75, OECD Publishing.
    7. John Humphrey & Hubert Schmitz, 2002. "How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(9), pages 1017-1027.
    8. Peter Knorringa & Lee Pegler, 2006. "Globalisation, Firm Upgrading And Impacts On Labour," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 97(5), pages 470-479, December.
    9. Amengual, Matthew, 2010. "Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 405-414, March.
    10. Stephanie BARRIENTOS & Gary GEREFFI & Arianna ROSSI, 2011. "Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: A new paradigm for a changing world," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 150(3-4), pages 319-340, December.
    11. Deb Kusum Das & Deepika Wadhwa & Gunajit Kalita, 2009. "The Employment Potential of Labor Intensive Industries in India’s Organized Manufacturing," Labor Economics Working Papers 22913, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    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. Nenci, Silvia & Fusacchia, Ilaria & Giunta, Anna & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2022. "Mapping global value chain participation and positioning in agriculture and food: stylised facts, empirical evidence and critical issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    2. Lilac Nachum, 2021. "Value distribution and markets for social justice in global value chains: Interdependence relationships and government policy," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(4), pages 541-563, December.
    3. Ayako Ebata & Hayley MacGregor & Michael Loevinsohn & Khine Su Win & Alexander W. Tucker, 0. "Value Chain Governance, Power and Negative Externalities: What Influences Efforts to Control Pig Diseases in Myanmar?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 0, pages 1-22.
    4. Reis, Germano Glufke & Villar, Eduardo Guedes & Prado Gimenez, Fernando Antonio & Maiolino Molento, Carla Forte & Ferri, Priscila, 2022. "The interplay of entrepreneurial ecosystems and global value chains: Insights from the cultivated meat entrepreneurial ecosystem of Singapore," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Marslev, Kristoffer & Staritz, Cornelia & Raj‐Reichert, Gale, 2022. "Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 827-859.
    6. Xinyu Yang & Weidong Liu, 2022. "Agricultural Production Networks and Upgrading from a Global–Local Perspective: A Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Pritish Behuria, 2018. "The politics of upgrading in global value chains: The case of Rwanda’s coffee sector," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-108-18, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    8. Vicol, Mark & Neilson, Jeffrey & Hartatri, Diany Faila Sophia & Cooper, Peter, 2018. "Upgrading for whom? Relationship coffee, value chain interventions and rural development in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 26-37.
    9. Choksy, Umair Shafi & Ayaz, Muhammad & Al-Tabbaa, Omar & Parast, Mahour, 2022. "Supplier resilience under the COVID-19 crisis in apparel global value chain (GVC): The role of GVC governance and supplier’s upgrading," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 249-267.
    10. Tashlin Lakhani & Sarosh Kuruvilla & Ariel Avgar, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 440-472, September.
    11. Ayako Ebata & Hayley MacGregor & Michael Loevinsohn & Khine Su Win & Alexander W. Tucker, 2020. "Value Chain Governance, Power and Negative Externalities: What Influences Efforts to Control Pig Diseases in Myanmar?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(3), pages 759-780, July.
    12. Anthony Goerzen & Simon Peter Iskander & Joerg Hofstetter, 2021. "The effect of institutional pressures on business-led interventions to improve social compliance among emerging market suppliers in global value chains," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(3), pages 347-367, September.
    13. Rachel Alexander, 2020. "Emerging Roles of Lead Buyer Governance for Sustainability Across Global Production Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 269-290, March.
    14. Kristoffer Marslev & Cornelia Staritz & Gale Raj‐Reichert, 2022. "Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 827-859, July.
    15. Carlo Pietrobelli & Roberta Rabellotti & Ari Van Assche, 2021. "Making sense of global value chain-oriented policies: The trifecta of tasks, linkages, and firms," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(3), pages 327-346, September.
    16. Giovanni Pasquali & Shane Godfrey, 2022. "Governance of Eswatini Apparel Regional Value Chains and the Implications of Covid-19," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 473-502, February.
    17. Valentina De Marchi & Matthew Alford, 2022. "State policies and upgrading in global value chains: A systematic literature review," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 88-111, March.
    18. Golini, Ruggero & De Marchi, Valentina & Boffelli, Albachiara & Kalchschmidt, Matteo, 2018. "Which governance structures drive economic, environmental, and social upgrading? A quantitative analysis in the assembly industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 13-23.
    19. Roman Jurowetzki & Rasmus Lema & Bengt-Åke Lundvall, 2018. "Combining Innovation Systems and Global Value Chains for Development: Towards a Research Agenda," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 364-388, July.
    20. Caroline Hambloch, 2018. "Governance and Land Reform in the Palm Oil Value Chain in the Philippines," Working Papers 209, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.

    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:spr:ijlaec:v:64:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s41027-021-00346-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.