IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v11y2022i2p187-209.html

Housing and Unfree Labour: A Village Case Study from Rajasthan, India

Author

Listed:
  • Shamsher Singh

Abstract

The phenomenon of unfree labour relations in the Indian countryside continues to remain a matter of concern. While multiple factors contribute to attachment and unfreedom of labour dependency on employers for housing, it is an understudied issue in the existing literature. Drawing on a detailed field study of an agriculturally advanced village in Sri Ganganagar district of north-western state of Rajasthan, this study discusses the role of housing in labour relations and contracts. It has been argued that when the proximate cause of unfree labour relations in this village is the lack of access to housing and homestead among the local landless Dalit labourers, the nature of overall dependence derives from multiple socio-economic factors rooted in unequal caste and class relations, inequality in land ownership and limited employment opportunities within the capital-intensive local agrarian production system. This article also discusses the nature, mechanisms and types of long-term labour contracts and labour services prevalent in the village and how all these are closely intertwined with caste relations. The study explores labour dependency in relation to labour contracts, wage negotiations, freedom and mobility, and working and living conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Shamsher Singh, 2022. "Housing and Unfree Labour: A Village Case Study from Rajasthan, India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 11(2), pages 187-209, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:11:y:2022:i:2:p:187-209
    DOI: 10.1177/22779760221101335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22779760221101335
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/22779760221101335?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. Isabelle Guérin & Govindan Venkatasubramanian, 2009. "Corridors of Migration and Chains of Dependence: Brick Kiln Moulders in Tamil Nadu," Post-Print hal-03239968, HAL.
    2. Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 1995. "A framework for the analysis of evolving patron-client ties in agrarian economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 767-786, May.
    3. Shamsher Singh, 2015. "Residential Segregation and Access to Basic Amenities: A Village-Level Case Study," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 5(2), pages 126-146, July-Dece.
    4. Bardhan, Pranab & Rudra, Ashok, 1981. "Terms and Conditions of Labour Contracts in Agriculture: Results of a Survey in West Bengal, 1979," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 43(1), pages 89-111, February.
    5. Thorner, Daniel & Thorner, Alice, 1957. "Types of Employer-Labourer Relationships in Indian Agriculture," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 12(2), April.
    6. Singh, Shamsher, . "Residential Segregation and Access to Basic Amenities: A Village-Level Case Study," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 5(2).
    7. A. Bheemeshwar Reddy & Madhura Swaminathan, 2014. "Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Rural India: Evidence from Ten Villages," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 4(1), pages 95-134, February-.
    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. Kunal Munjal & Madhura Swaminathan, 2025. "Agrarian Change in Uttar Pradesh: A Review of Village Studies," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 15(2).
    2. Selim Gulesci, 2021. "Poverty Alleviation and Interhousehold Transfers: Evidence from BRAC’s Graduation Program in Bangladesh," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(4), pages 921-949.
    3. Baksi, Sandipan & Mahato, Rakesh Kumar, 2022. "“Homestead Landlessness”: A Case of Rural Unfreedom in Two Villages in Bihar," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 12(01), June.
    4. Bharathi, Naveen & Malghan, Deepak & Mishra, Sumit & Rahman, Andaleeb, 2021. "Fractal urbanism: City size and residential segregation in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Michael Hubbard, 1997. "The ‘New Institutional Economics’ In Agricultural Development: Insights And Challenges," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1‐3), pages 239-249, January.
    6. Azam Chaudhry & Kate Vyborny, 2013. "Patronage in Rural Punjab: Evidence from a New Household Survey Dataset," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(Special E), pages 183-209, September.
    7. Nawazuddin Ahmed & Dinesh K. Nauriyal, 2023. "Occupational and Educational Mobility Among Indian Muslims: Primary Survey-Based Evidence," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(2), pages 228-259, June.
    8. Das Gupta, Monica & Grandvoinnet, Helene & Romani, Mattia, 2000. "State-community synergies in development : laying the basis for collective action," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2439, The World Bank.
    9. Petros G. Sekeris, 2008. "Preference Falsification and Patronage," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 08-18, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
    10. repec:osf:socarx:3ycrb_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Marcel Fafchamps & Flore Gubert, 2007. "Contingent Loan Repayment in the Philippines," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 633-667, July.
    12. repec:qeh:qehwps:qehwps132 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Bene, Christophe, 2003. "When Fishery Rhymes with Poverty: A First Step Beyond the Old Paradigm on Poverty in Small-Scale Fisheries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 949-975, June.
    14. Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, 1994. "Labour Markets As Social Institutions In India," Working papers 16, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    15. repec:foi:wpaper:2010_14 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. MARIEKE HUYSENTRUYT & CHRISTOPHER B. BARRETT & JOHN G. McPEAK, 2009. "Understanding Declining Mobility and Inter‐household Transfers among East African Pastoralists," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(302), pages 315-336, April.
    17. Singh, Shamsher, 2022. "The Farmers’ Movement Against Three Agricultural Laws in India: A Study of Organisation," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 12(01), June.
    18. Nejat Anbarci & Mustafa Caglayan, 2005. "Cadaveric Vs. Live-Donor Kidney Transplants: The Interaction Of Institutions And Inequality," Working Papers 2005_25, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    19. Baland, Jean-Marie & Dreze, Jean & Leruth, Luc, 1999. "Daily wages and piece rates in agrarian economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 445-461, August.
    20. Loughrey, Jason & Donnellan, Trevor & Hanrahan, Kevin & Hennessy, Thia, 2013. "Agricultural Labour Market Flexibility in the EU and Candidate Countries," Working papers 155707, Factor Markets, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    21. Akerkar, Supriya & Joshi, P.C. & Fordham, Maureen, 2016. "Cultures of Entitlement and Social Protection: Evidence from Flood Prone Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 46-58.
    22. Caselli, Francesco, 1997. "Rural labor and credit markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 235-260, December.
    23. Basu, Arnab K. & Chau, Nancy H. & Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "A theory of employment guarantees: Contestability, credibility and distributional concerns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 482-497, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:agspub:v:11:y:2022:i:2:p:187-209. 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: .

    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.