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Bonded labour, agrarian changes and capitalism : emerging patterns in South India

Author

Listed:
  • Isabelle Guérin

    (DEVSOC - UMR Développement et Sociétés - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry - MEAE - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Drawing on a number of case studies from Tamil Nadu, this paper shows that bonded labour is not a relic of the past, but surprisingly contemporary. Refuting the tenets of the semi-feudal thesis, we argue that unfree labour can go hand in hand with capitalism, and that it can be initiated and sustained by capital itself in order to accumulate surplus value. Going against the tenets of the de-proletarianization thesis, we suggest that bonded labour is not always the preferred working arrangement for capitalism. Bonded labour should be examined in connection with specific historical contexts, the changing nature of the economy, the evolution of political forces and modes of socialization. I argue that bonded labour results from a specific regime of accumulation characterized by cheap labour, increased domestic demand sustained through household debt, as well as modes of conflict, contestation and worker identity formation that engage with both governmental programmes and consumerism.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabelle Guérin, 2013. "Bonded labour, agrarian changes and capitalism : emerging patterns in South India," Post-Print ird-01473377, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:ird-01473377
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://ird.hal.science/ird-01473377v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bhaduri, Amit, 1973. "A Study in Agricultural Backwardness under Semi-Feudalism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 83(329), pages 120-137, March.
    2. Srivastava, Ravi S., 2005. "Bonded labour in India : its incidence and pattern," ILO Working Papers 993779363402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. Breman, Jan, 2010. "Outcast Labour in Asia: Circulation and Informalization of the Workforce at the Bottom of the Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198066323.
    4. David Picherit, 2009. "Workers, Trust Us!' Labour Middlemen and the Rise of the Lower Castes in Andhra Pradesh," Post-Print hal-03239988, HAL.
    5. Marc Roesch & Govindan Venkatasubramanian & Isabelle Guérin, 2009. "Bonded Labour in the Rice Mills: Fate or Opportunity?," Post-Print hal-03240000, HAL.
    6. repec:ilo:ilowps:377936 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Mishra, Soumya, 2025. "Migrant capital: The role of internal migrants in mediating agrarian-industrial transformation in Northern India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. A. R. Vasavi, 2019. "The Displaced Threshing Yard: Involutions of the Rural," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 24(1), pages 31-54, June.
    3. Khadija Anjum & Leonora Angeles, 2025. "Farm workers’ food security during food price hikes: a political economy of landless rice-wheat farm labourers in Pakistan’s Punjab," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(3), pages 1361-1378, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Cathy Rozel Farnworth & Tahseen Jafry & Preeti Bharati & Lone Badstue & Ashok Yadav, 2021. "From Working in the Fields to Taking Control. Towards a Typology of Women's Decision-Making in Wheat in India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 526-552, June.
    6. Isabelle Guérin & Cécile Mouchel & Christophe Jalil Nordman, 2023. "With a Little Help from My Friends? Surviving the Lockdown Using Social Networks in Rural South India," Working Papers DT/2023/02, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    7. Cathy Rozel Farnworth & Tahseen Jafry & Preeti Bharati & Lone Badstue & Ashok Yadav, 0. "From Working in the Fields to Taking Control. Towards a Typology of Women's Decision-Making in Wheat in India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 0, pages 1-27.

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